Beijing isolated on J&K in UNSC talks

NEWDELHI/WASHINGTON: China and Pakistan tried, for the third time, to raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations, in part to embarrass India on the international stage and, in part, to stoke fires in Kashmir Valley, according to officials aware of the development who said the efforts were thwarted by India’s diplomatic allies who left Beijing isolated.

China got a “stinging response” when it raised Kashmir at a closed-door informal consultation of the UN Security Council (UNSC), Syed Akbaruddin, the Indian envoy to the UN, said in a late-night tweet.

“Today @Un..our flag is flying high. Those that launched a “False Flag” effort got a stinging response from our many friends...,” he posted.

According to people familiar with the discussions, none of the other 14 members of the body “took the bait”, leaving China isolated in its continued efforts to raise an issue that all others have resolved to treat as bilateral — for India and Pakistan to resolve between themselves.

The attempts to raise the issue were through a fresh letter by Islamabad to Vietnam (which holds the presidency of the UN Security Council for this month) and an attempt by Beijing to put Kashmir as a topic of discussion during the informal meeting on Wednesday night. The efforts were meant to revive the failed December 2019 bid to raise Kashmir at the UNSC. The UNSC did not take up a Pakistani letter last month after India pushed back strongly with the help of its friends in the council, particularly France and the US.