NEW YORK: United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will meet to discuss the alarming human rights situation in Indian occupied Kashmir.
Besides situation prevailing in Indian occupied Kashmir, the Security Council also discuss in detail the ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) between Pakistan and Indiag, Geo reported.
This is the second time in less than six months that the UN body is going to discuss the issue of occupied Kashmir. In August last year, the Security Council had, for first time in over five decades, met to discuss the critical human rights situation in the occupied valley.
The meeting had come about after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the constitutional autonomy of the valley in early August and imposed a military curfew and communications blackout in the area, sending in hundreds of thousands of Indian troops to quell protests.
Thousands of people, including the top political leadership of occupied Kashmir, as well as two former chief ministers and the mayor of capital Srinagar, were detained. International media also reported that the detainees had been tortured by the occupying Indian troops.
The international community had voiced concerns about the situation of occupied Kashmir in the aftermath of the move by the Indian premier, with several political leaders, including US congresspersons, urging India to lift the blockade and return normalcy to the region.
China had backed Pakistani concerns regarding the volatile situation on the LoC and in Kashmir, asking the UN Military Observer Group posted along the border areas between Pakistan and India to brief the UNSC on the ground realities of the area.
As the UNSC meets to discuss occupied Kashmir for a second time in less than six months.
Speaking to reporters after the UNSC meeting on Kashmir back in August, Chinese ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun had said that members of Security Council felt serious concern regarding the human rights situation in Indian occupied Kashmir.
“The Security Council has just held an informal consultation and listened very carefully to the briefings and reports from the secretariat, including the briefing from the military observer group on the ground, that helped us understand the situation better,” said Zhang.
Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the UN.
“Members have expressed that there are serious concerns concerning the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. They are also concerned about the human rights situation there and it is the general view of the members that parties concerned should refrain from taking any unilateral action which might further aggravate tensions,” he added.
“China holds the view that the issue of Jammu Kashmir is an issue left from history between India and Pakistan. According to United Nations Security Council resolutions, the status of Kashmir is undecided and it is an internationally recognized dispute. The Kashmir issue should be resolved through peaceful means.”
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