Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday welcomed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on occupied Jammu and Kashmir held on Friday, saying the gathering was a reaffirmation of the council’s past resolutions advocating the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people.
Taking to Twitter, the premier noted that it was for the first time in over five decades that the “world’s highest diplomatic forum” had taken up the issue of occupied Kashmir and the serious situation prevailing there.
“There are 11 UNSC resolutions reiterating the Kashmiris right to self-determination. And the UNSC meeting was a reaffirmation of these resolutions,” the prime minister wrote.
He said it was, therefore, the responsibility of the Security Council to address the suffering of the Kashmiri people and ensure the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
I welcome the UNSC meeting to discuss the serious situation in Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. It is for the first time in over 50 yrs that the world’s highest diplomatic forum has taken up this issue. There are 11 UNSC resolutions reiterating the Kashmiris right to self determination.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) August 17, 2019
For the first time since 1965, the UNSC had on Friday held a meeting exclusively on occupied Jammu and Kashmir, nullifying India’s claim that this was an internal matter.
Although the council did not agree on a statement, China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun summed up the discussions, expressing serious concern over the situation.
“The UNSC members are concerned about the human rights situation there and they (want) the parties concerned to refrain from taking any unilateral action that might further aggravate the tension there since the situation is already very tense and very dangerous,” he said.
Pakistan’s Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said the meeting brought the Kashmir dispute back to the world’s most influential panel and also highlighted the atrocities Indian troops are committing in the occupied region.
“The voice of the Kashmiri people resonated in the chambers of the world’s highest diplomatic forum today,” she said. “The whole world is discussing the occupied state. This is an international dispute.”
