UNSC meeting on Kashmir a ‘grave diplomatic failure’ of government: Congress

New Delhi, August 16

The Congress on Friday termed United Nations Security Council’s discussing on the Kashmir issue a “grave diplomatic failure” of the BJP government and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk to “India’s friends” in the United Nations to stall the meeting.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said it was a failure on the part of the government’s foreign policy to allow internationalisation of the Kashmir issue in the UN.

He said the issue has come up at a time when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing.

“This is a grave diplomatic failure of the government. In fact it is worse; it is a grave strategic failure of the government,” he told reporters.

The Congress leader said this is a “non-negotiable and a non-discussable issue as far India is concerned” as this has been the position as a bedrock pillar of India’s foreign policy for decades.

“We are extremely disturbed, indeed shocked, at what we see is happening in the United Nations, supposedly, at 7.30 India time today in the evening. We view it as a matter of grave and deep concern to the entire nation, to every citizen and resident of India,” he said.

“Please take up our questions and our objections in the right spirit as they are meant to awaken the government to the fact that you have to leave ‘jingoism, jumlebaazi’ and address the basic question - how have you allowed the internationalisation of the Kashmir issue in this brazen manner under the very nose of the government of India, its Foreign minister while visiting China,” Singhvi said.

“The nation needs an answer immediately and we need the prime minister to pick up the phone and stop this meeting at the United Nations today,” he said.

Singhvi said Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh are an integral inalienable, untouchable part of India and no other body, group, organisation individual can assert to the contrary as far as India is concerned.

“It is, therefore, shocking that roughly after 60 years, I think the last time it was in 1964, roughly after 55 or 60 years, for the first time this is sought to be internationalised at the United Nations Security Council today,” he said.

The Congress leader claimed that “the Chinese government got this meeting organised at the behest of Pakistan” when External Affairs Minister Jaishankar was in a three-day visit to Beijing till Monday for bilateral talks.

“Is this not a strategic failure for India apart from being a diplomatic faux-pas of the highest proportion? Why such a meeting should be held at all in the United Nations. I implore, I beseech the prime minister not to remain silent. I implore him to move all our friends, anyone in the United Nations Security Council to have this meeting cancelled,” he said.

Singhvi said the issue is not open for discussion and this is something that has not happened for decades. Without any real protest by the government of India, except saying it is a closed-door meeting, he said, adding that there is no such thing as closed-door in internationalisation of such an issue.

He said as he is making the demand for getting the UN meeting cancelled, he fears being dubbed by the BJP as “anti-national”.

The Congress leader said this issue cannot be dismissed as this is something that has not happened for decades and is being allowed to happen now.

Singhvi also said the government of India and Modi should remember that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who started the Delhi-Lahore Bus Service, could also be called anti-national as he also referred to the three principles of ‘Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat and Kashmiriyat’.

“Please don’t call us anti-national because then the bus yatra of Vajpayee Ji will also become anti-national. Please don’t forget your own interlocutor who was deputed by the Modi government,” he said.

The UN Security Council will meet here on Friday to discuss India revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir after Pakistan wrote a letter on the issue to the world body.

China, the all-weather ally of Pakistan, asked for “closed consultations” in the Council, which will meet to discuss the matter. PTI