Maria Espinosa, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) president, is currently on a five-day official visit to Pakistan. The visit, arranged by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Dr Maleeha Lodhi, is of high significance since there are several issues being discussed on state level, including the longstanding cause regarding the disputed region of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in their interactions with the UNGA president, emphasised setting up a commission to probe human rights abuses in the Indian-held Kashmir. The PM and FM have also asked Lodhi to take steps to implement the previous UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions that were meant to decide Kashmir’s future. These measures were requested in light of a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report published in June 2018 which, for the first time ever, extensively documented the gross abuses being committed by the Indian government in the restive valley. Amnesty International, a major non-governmental organisation, has done extensive research on abuses in Kashmir. But their findings have largely fallen on deaf ears since hardly anyone from New Delhi’s power corridors is willing to concede to legitimate concerns of the Kashmiris and the routine violence they encounter. Burhan Wani, a Kashmiri militant whose family was subjected to harassment in his teenage years, became the face of Kashmir’s freedom cause during July 2016. The reaction to his death in the valley was unprecedented in the region’s modern history which acted like a catalyst for an indigenously run movement that relied on guerrilla tactics. Nothing of this sort was witnessed previously ever since the 1989 uprising. Indeed, sham elections are often held but the turnout is always low. Even moderate leaders such as former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah have been unable to redress the root causes of instability. These causes include lack of political will, hard-line approaches adopted by India and some regional groups, and a sense of fear among the locals who’ve been muted for far too long. Kashmir requires an immediate remedy with interventionist approach on a global scale. Islamabad had always sought to resolve the matter through multilateral diplomacy, whereas, New Delhi stresses a bilateral approach. Now, there are some slight complexities when trying to focus on UNSC resolutions 47 and 48. Legally speaking, they are non-binding under Chapter VI of the UN Charter. Whereas, resolution 1172, adopted in June 1998, is legally binding under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. One of the clauses of resolution 1172 urges both Pakistan and India to resolve Kashmir through bilateral approach. This may be similar to the Simla Agreement signed in July 1972 but diplomatically and politically speaking, a multilateral approach is required. Several world powers have been involved in resolving it in recent decades. Earlier this month, Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg also proposed to resolve Kashmir dispute between Islamabad and New Delhi while she was on a state visit to India. Past proposals such as the four-point and Chenab formulas could serve as an exploring ground to further chalk out a strategy to reduce not only the animosity but also promote harmony and peace in the region. Nevertheless, the ball lies in New Delhi’s court since it policies towards Kashmir are detrimental to the region’s stability. Organisations such as the UN and its subgroups such as the UN Military Observer Group on India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) can only mediate or reduce tensions only if all concerned parties mutually agree to hold talks. Kashmir cannot continue to bleed and the world must wake up. * Published in Daily Times, January 20th 2019.