News Desk |
Turkey has welcomed the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) decision to address the issue of occupied Kashmir in its session held on August 16.
Turkish Foreign Office’s statement read: “We welcome the consultations held at the UN Security Council on Jammu and Kashmir (August 16) under the title “India-Pakistan”, with a view to de-escalating tension in the region and upholding diplomacy. We believe that the UN should play a more active role in resolving the issue within the framework of the resolutions it adopted earlier.”
“We reaffirm our hope that the issue will be resolved on the basis of international law and through dialogue between the relevant parties and we call upon the parties to exercise restraint and to refrain from unilateral steps which may increase tension,” the statement said.
China holds the view that the issue of Jammu Kashmir is an issue left from history between India and Pakistan. According to UNSC resolutions, the status of Kashmir is undecided and it is an internationally recognized dispute.
On August 16, the UNSC met for the first time in over five decades to discuss the critical situation in Indian occupied Kashmir, urging parties to the dispute to refrain from taking any unilateral action.
The UNSC met behind closed doors at the request of China and Pakistan to discuss the Indian government’s recent decision to revoke the special status of Occupied Kashmir.
China Deeply Concerned about IOK, Opposes any Unilateral Action
Meanwhile, China had earlier expressed serious concern over the state of affairs in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, saying the current situation was “already very tense and very dangerous.”
Following a meeting of the UNSC on Kashmir issue, China’s Ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun had said that India has changed the status quo in Kashmir.
“It is obvious that the constitutional amendment by India has changed the status quo in Kashmir, causing tension in the region. China is deeply concerned about the current situation and opposes any unilateral action that complicates the situation,” the Chinese envoy had said.
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While talking to the media at the UNSC, Jun had said that the members of the Security Council have expressed serious concern over Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where the situation is “already very tense and very dangerous.”
For the first time in more than 50 years, the UNSC members met on Friday behind closed doors to discuss the Indian government’s recent decision to revoke the special status of 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. The Secretary-General also issued a statement a few days ago,” said Jun.
“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 said.
The people of Jammu and Kashmir should not be treated as pawns in a political crisis, and the international community must come together to call for their human rights to be respected.
“China holds the view that the issue of Jammu Kashmir is an issue left from history between India and Pakistan. According to UNSC resolutions, the status of Kashmir is undecided and it is an internationally recognized dispute. The Kashmir issue should be resolved properly through peaceful means in accordance with the UN charter, the relevant SC resolutions and bilateral agreements. This represents the international community’s consensus,” he concluded.
UNSC must uphold Peace and Security in Kashmir: Amnesty International
On August 16, the Secretary-General of Amnesty International Kumi Naidoo reiterated his call to the Indian government to act in accordance with international human rights law and standards towards the people living in occupied Kashmir.
“For the first time in decades the United Nations Security Council is taking up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Members of the council need to remember that their mandate is to protect international peace and security — and they should seek to resolve the situation in a way that puts the human rights of the people in this troubled region at its centre,” Naidoo had said in a statement.
The Amnesty International’s Secretary-General had said: “We reiterate our calls to the Indian government to act in accordance with international human rights law and standards towards people living in Jammu and Kashmir, including in relation to arrests and detentions of political opponents, and the rights to liberty and freedom of movement.”
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Naidoo had said that the actions of the Indian government have thrown ordinary people’s lives into turmoil, subjecting them to unnecessary pain and distress on top of the years of human rights violations they have already endured.
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir should not be treated as pawns in a political crisis, and the international community must come together to call for their human rights to be respected,” he had added.