Kashmir Issue in the UN: A Detailed Report

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Prime Minister Imran Khan raised the Kashmir issue in his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) after the abolition of the special status of India-administered Kashmir.

Let’s take a look at when and how the biggest conflict between Pakistan and India was discussed in the United Nations (UN)?

Since 1972, Pakistan has not been successful in presenting any resolution to vote on any forum of the UN regarding the Kashmir dispute. Pakistan has been focusing only on speeches since then.

Moreover, Pakistan has not even submitted a condemnation resolution against India’s actions in the India-administered Kashmir at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting that was held recently.

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However, just before the start of the council meeting, UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet issued a condemnation of human rights violations in India-administered Kashmir which was rejected by India.

The Human Rights Council also released a detailed report on human rights violations in India-administered Kashmir from 2016 to 2018. The same council issued a report on human rights violations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir as well.

January 1948 UN meeting in which the first resolution on Kashmir was passed.

 

Social media users say that ‘Pakistani authorities either forgot to submit the resolution or it was not submitted due to lack of support in favor of the resolution’. However, experts say it is almost impossible for Pakistan to lose out on a sensitive issue like Kashmir, so they consider it a part of the strategy.

Imran Khan Address in UN on Kashmir

Earlier in 1994, Pakistan had submitted a resolution to the UNHRC, but due to lack of majority support, the resolution had already been withdrawn before the council vote.

Due to this historic conflict between Pakistan and India, tensions between the two countries have been vacillating and it has been affecting the political conflict between the two countries. Kashmir is an important part of the foreign policy in both countries.

Kashmir is no longer getting the global centrality it had been in the 1960s. No resolutions have been approved in the UN Security Council (UNSC), UNHRC, or any subsidiary, the Kashmir dispute since the 1960s.

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However, at every annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Pakistan’s representative, whether it is the Foreign Minister or the Prime Minister, mentions the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of his speech. India, likewise, does not consider Kashmir as a dispute or says that it is a bilateral issue between the two countries.

Kashmir was also mentioned in the UN in 1998 when the Security Council passed a resolution on Pakistan and India’s nuclear blasts. Resolution # 1172 called for the two countries to stop nuclear activities and urged them to exercise maximum restraint and to avoid threatening military movements, cross-border violations, or other provocations in order to prevent an aggravation of the situation.

Experts say that after India’s actions, which has resulted in a change in the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, the dispute was discussed at a UN Security Council closed door meeting because of the support of China. Earlier, the Kashmir dispute was raised by the UNSC in 1971, when the war between Pakistan and India took place.

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The Kashmir dispute was taken to the United Nations in 1948 by the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru when Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir announced his affiliation with India after the alleged tribal attack. Then in about 23 years, until 1971, the United Nations adopted 17 resolutions and called for a meeting on related issues. In addition, the UN also tried to mediate between India and Pakistan in other ways.

In 1948, four resolutions were passed on the Kashmir dispute. Later on, one resolution in 1950, one in 1952 and three resolutions in 1957 were adopted in the Security Council on Kashmir. Several missions were set up between these resolutions, but the Kashmir issue could not be resolved.

PM speech true reflection of Kashmiris’ aspirations

Then in 1965 five different resolutions and relevant decisions were adopted and in 1971, two resolutions mentioned the Kashmir dispute. These resolutions were about a ceasefire between Pakistan and India. Unfortunately, on both occasions, due to veto of the Soviet Union, no resolution could be approved in support of the Kashmiris.

UN documents say the Line of Control dividing Jammu and Kashmir between Pakistan and India is considered a controversial line.

 

After the 1965 war between Pakistan and India, the United Nations was virtually eliminated from Kashmir after the Tashkent Agreement signed under the auspices of the Soviet Union. United Nations Resolution # 307, which mentions Kashmir, was actually passed at the beginning of the 1971 war and was not the cause of the Kashmir war at that time.

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After the Simla Agreement was signed between Pakistan and India in 1972, the Kashmir issue was never discussed again by India and whenever Pakistan talked about it on any global forum, India always reacted by saying that the matter has been settled or it is a bilateral issue.

Despite all the relative tensions in the world, Kashmir is still an unresolved dispute in the United Nations!

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