No formal UNSC meeting on J&K but closed-door consultations after China intervenes

NEW DELHI: The UN Security Council will have informal and closed-door consultations on J&K Friday following a call by China to discuss the issue. These consultations will focus on Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s letter to the Council criticising India for the developments in the state and seeking a formal, on-record meeting on the issue - a demand which actually failed to draw enough support from UNSC members.
Pakistan had called for a formal meeting and to allow its representative to be present with the right to speak. For such a formal meeting to take place, it’s important that the proposal is accepted by at least 9 member states (out of 15 in the Council). China approached the Council president for a closed meeting after Pakistan’s bid for a formal, open meeting backed by Beijing failed to get that support from UNSC members.
ToI had reported on Thursday that Qureshi’s call for an open and formal meeting had found few takers in the Council.
The last time there was a formal meeting of the Council, the kind demanded by Pakistan in Qureshi’s letter, on a J&K related issue was in 1971. ``The minutes of the consultations or other details will not be made public as this is only meant to encourage members to speak informally on the issue at hand. This is just an exchange of views where no record is kept or any formal outcome decided,’’ said a diplomat from a UNSC member state on strict condition of anonymity. Only the representatives of 15 UNSC members will be present in the meeting.
The Russian envoy to the UN was quoted as having said late on Wednesday that Russia would agree to participate in the consultations only if it happened in the form of a closed-door meeting. In a statement earlier, Moscow had said that there was no alternative to resolving differences between India and Pakistan other than bilaterally through political and diplomatic means. It had also said its representative at the UN would adhere to this ``consistent’’ position.
China’s backing of Pakistan though hasn’t come as a surprise to the government. Beijing’s support to Pakistan is similar to the position it took after the Pulwama attack in February this year as it sought to yet again delay a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar. Beijing gave in only after the US, France and UK looked to introduce a resolution for the ban directly in the Security Council. This would have meant Beijing having to publicly defend its decision to help an individual who headed an internationally banned terrorist organisation.
It’s perhaps important to mention here that Qureshi’s letter to the UNSC president specifically seeking an emergency meeting came shortly after his return from Beijing. Qureshi had visited China to mobilise support for Islamabad’s position against India’s, as he claimed, unilateral and illegal decision to revoke the special status to J&K.