Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari acknowledged that Islamabad faced an “uphill task” of getting the Kashmir issue to the “centre of the agenda” of the United Nations.
Addressing a press conference about Islamophobia, Zardari said that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir “remains unaddressed” by the UN and that there was a need for “extra focus” on the issue. He was responding to a question that drew parallels between the situation in Palestine with Kashmir.
Zardari said “while we do find it difficult to get the truth across, we are persistent in our efforts” and added that at every opportunity, whether it is in the UN Security Council or other events, he makes the effort to mention both the plight of the people of Palestine and of Kashmir.
“You're also right to note that we face a particularly uphill task to try and get Kashmir into the centre of the agenda at the United Nations,” the Pakistan foreign minister noted.
Zardari fumbled for the next few seconds as he went on to refer to India, describing it first as “our friend” and then going on to call it the “neighbouring” country.
“Whenever the issue of Kashmir is brought up, our friends within…our neighbouring country…vociferously object. They perpetuate a post-fact narrative where they try to claim that this is not a dispute for the United Nations, that this is not a disputed territory recognised by the international community,” he opined.
Pakistan rakes up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at every UN forum and platform, irrespective of the topic or agenda being discussed. However, it fails to get any support for its agenda from the wider UN membership which considers it a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.
India, too, has time and again, categorically opposed Pakistan’s agenda of the Jammu and Kashmir issue. In a recent UN session on human rights, India objected to Zardari’s remarks referring to Kashmir as "occupied" and claiming human rights violations in the region. The ministry of external affairs under secretary Jagpreet Kaur said Pakistan “put its own house in order and focus on improving its abysmal record of promotion and protection of human rights of its own population.”
Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, which India has said was “an internal matter”.
India has also told Pakistan that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.
