Kashmir issue at the UN

PAKISTAN Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on 26th September raised the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly while blaming India for "another missed opportunity" to address outstanding issues. As a consequence the foreign secretary-level talks were cancelled.  Asserting that a "veil" cannot be drawn over the "core" issue of Kashmir, he said Pakistan is ready to work for resolution of this problem through negotiations.

"Our support and advocacy of the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is our historic commitment and a duty, as a party to the Kashmir dispute," he said while addressing the annual UN General Assembly session. Sharif said that more than six decades ago, the UN had passed resolutions to hold a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir and the people of Jammu and Kashmir are still waiting for the fulfillment of that promise.

Interestingly it was in the next day India's Prime Minister at the same venue said that Pakistan needed “seriousness” to resume dialogue between the two countries and questioned his Pakistani counterpart for raising the issue at the UN. He also reportedly said that “by raising this, I don't know how serious our effort will be and some people are doubtful.”

It is noted that under the Simla Agreement of 2nd July, 1972, India and Pakistan agreed to "settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations or by any other peaceful means mutually agreed upon between them”. India argues that Kashmir dispute is a bilateral issue as per Simla Agreement, 1972 and must be settled through bilateral negotiations and thus third party, even that of United Nations, has no role for the Kashmir issue.

India also canvasses that since Pakistan agreed to resolve the Kashmir issue through a peaceful bilateral dialogue, raising the issue at the UN is a breach of the Simla Agreement. Furthermore for this dialogue to progress meaningfully, an environment free from cross-border terrorism and violence from Pakistan along the Line of Control in Kashmir is an essential pre-requisite.

Pakistan, on the other hand, retorts that since both countries have agreed under the Simla Agreement that the relations between the two countries shall be governed by the principles and purposes of the Charter of the UN, the UN has a role to play in Kashmir issue because Article 2 of the UN Charter states that India, a member of the UN, should respect for the principle of self-determination of peoples to strengthen universal peace.

The question is why did the Pakistan Prime Minister raise the issue at the UN? It appears that Nawaz Sharif raised the issue at the UN primarily for two reasons. First, to shore up his political position in the country which has very much weakened by the protests of supporters of Imran Khan and Tahir ul  Qadri and to placate the Pakistan military establishment. Secondly, since Pakistan People's Party leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari recently boasted that his party would take back entire Kashmir from India if it comes to power, politically Nawaz Sharif could not remain silent on Kashmir issue.

The question is why the Kashmir issue yet remains unresolved for more than sixty seven years? In my view, there are a number of reasons which are described below.

First, Kashmir has been much more than a territorial claim to India. As Kashmir is the only Muslim-majority state within the Indian federal structure, it cannot afford to lose it because it fears that it will not be able to hold up evidence that India is a secular country without Kashmir.

Secondly, India perceives that if it concedes to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir, it may encourage other separatists, in particular the tribes in the north eastern states to secede from India. The armed insurgency in the North Eastern states in India has been seething for some years and poses a threat to the security and integrity of India. For Pakistan, if the Muslim majority Kashmir is not a part of its territory, it loses its heart of the two-nation theory on which Pakistan has been founded and secondly it is an emotive issue for the people of Pakistan which compels the leaders of the country to take steps in re-integrating Kashmir into Pakistan.

However the fact remains that Pakistan is militarily weak in conventional arms and cannot force India to resolve the Kashmir issue. Pakistan is aware that it is India which has to take the first step for a dialogue with Pakistan and after the 26 November of 2008 deadly attacks on Mumbai hotels, India has stopped comprehensive dialogue unless Pakistan dismantles the infrastructure of terrorists in Pakistan.

The Kashmir dispute has been hemorrhaging South Asia and its impact on SAARC is visible. The leaders of both countries should not be imprisoned in their past attitudes. Leadership is about being decisive and about being true to a vision. The Modi government with its nationalistic outlook and a huge mandate from its people is able to resolve the Kashmir issue and the people of India will accept it because it trusts the Modi government to do what is right for India. This opportunity must not be missed.

The writer is Former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva