India’s diplomatic outreach as it revokes Jammu and Kashmir’s special status
The government revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and proposed that the state be split into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
By IAR Desk
India on Monday briefed the envoys of five permanent members of the UN Security Council and several other nations about its decision to revoke Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and to bifurcate the state.
In the briefings, it was conveyed that the decisions were internal to India and they are aimed at providing good governance, promoting social justice and ensuring economic development in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said.
It was learnt that Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed the envoys of the US, Britain, France, China and Russia, the five permanent members of the UNSC.
Other senior officials apprised envoys of a number of other countries about the government’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir.
In the light of interest expressed by members of the diplomatic community, senior MEA officials briefed the envoys of several countries, the sources said.
The government revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and proposed that the state be split into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the decision in Rajya Sabha, fulfilling the electoral promise of the BJP. While it sent a wave of jubilation among government supporters and others, it also provoked outrage from the NC and the PDP, the principal political parties in Jammu and Kashmir.
While no country has made any statement regarding the move, which India terms as an ‘internal matter’, Pakistan has responded angrily. Condemning the move, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement that “Pakistan strongly condemns and rejects the announcements made today by the Indian Government regarding the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” as “the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory”, and Pakistan will therefore “exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps”.
During Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to the USA, President Donald Trump in a meeting with Khan had offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on Kashmir. It was widely believed that this was the carrot that may be dangled to urge Pakistan to help the US find an honourable exit from Afghanistan, where it is engaged in negotiations with the Taliban.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs had swiftly issued a rebuttal stating that it has been “India’s consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross border terrorism.”
Recently President Trump once again reiterated his offer to mediate the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India. The swiftness with which the government carried out the plan to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status is thought to be a fall-out of this, some experts opine.
Pakistan has also earlier bifurcated the part of Kashmir under its occupation, separating the Northern territory of Gilgit Baltistan from what it calls ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir.’
In 1963 Pakistan ceded the Shaksgam Valley to China when both countries signed a boundary agreement to settle their border differences. he Shaksgam Valley or the Trans Karakoram Tract is part of Hunza-Gilgit region of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), and is a disputed territory claimed by India but controlled by Pakistan. It borders Xinjiang Province of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the north, the Northern Areas of POK to the south and west, and the Siachen Glacier region to the east.The agreement laid the foundation of Karakoram highway which was built jointly by the Chinese and Pakistani engineers in 1970s.
– With agency inputs
