Daily Times

The political face of Hindu terrorist organisation, RSS, has unlawfully repealed Article 370 from the Constitution of India; granting special and autonomous status to the Indian-occupied Kashmir.

This fanatic move was predicted ever since Modi took the oath as the prime minister of India for the second time. The Indian move is not only the violation of the Indian constitution but also a clear abuse of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution, which had declared Kashmir as a disputed territory. Under article 370, the disputed territory had enjoyed the decision-making rights for all affairs, except defence and foreign relations.

The Article “limits Parliament’s powers to make laws to those matters in the Union and Concurrent Lists, in consultation with the state government, as declared by the President, which should correspond with matters specified under the Instrument of Accession.”

Along with it, Article 35-A kept the demographic structure, and the Muslim majority in the state secure and intact.

The reaction on the Pakistani side was quite dynamic.

A joint parliamentary session was called to discuss the way forward. The government declared a diplomatic emergency to deal with the emerging situation. Foreign Office engaged all the capitals of the friendly states to raise the importance and the sensitivity of the situation. Immediately, Pakistan has snapped diplomatic ties with India and sent Indian high commissioner back to India. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited Beijing and met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. In the meeting, China assured Pakistan for the complete support in motion against India at UNSC. FM Qureshi said in a press briefing, “After the meeting that foreign ministries of both the countries have named a focal person each at the director-general level who will be responsible for coordinating “a joint strategy.”

Kashmir is an international dispute between the two neighbouring nuclear powers

On the other hand, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China was highly concerned over the current situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir and the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan.

Along with it, Article 35-A kept the demographic structure, and the Muslim majority in the state secure and intact.

He further added that India’s unilateral step had aggravated the situation in the region. While criticising Indian government, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing, had already denoted that Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognised disputed territory. Talking to journalists, he also criticised the Indian government for unilaterally revoking the special status of occupied Kashmir.

On the 16th of August, after five decades, Kashmir issue was discussed in UNSC with the diplomatic efforts of Pakistan and the assistance of China. On the Pakistani side, the meeting of UNSC is declared a diplomatic victory. Especially the permanent representative of Pakistan in the UN, Dr Maleeha Lodhi, said that the voice of innocent people of Indian occupied Kashmir was highlighted “in the chambers of the world’s highest diplomatic forum.”

Without the shadow of a doubt, Kashmir is an international dispute between the two neighbouring nuclear powers. Indian oppressive policies are making the dispute more critical not only for Pakistan but also for the entire region. In my opinion, more than the western world, regional powers must play their role to resolve the dispute for larger regional interests. Particularly, it is the prime responsibility of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to play its significant part in resolving Kashmir issue because Pakistan and India are both parts of SCO while other regional states, including Russia and China, are the founding members of the organisation.

SCO is a vital forum. Soon, it is going to become a strong economic and security bloc because of infrastructure development under Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and other bilateral and multilateral security agreements between the member states. Being a significant member of SCO and the key economic power, China is an important stakeholder in the geo-economics and geostrategic landscape of South Asia.

I am not reluctant to say that China has firmly played its part to bring this sensitive issue to UNSC. Along with it, being an important power in the region, it is the core responsibility of Russia to play its part in resolving the Kashmir issue. Being the permanent member of UNSC, Russia, for the first time, did not veto the call for meeting on Kashmir. In my opinion, it is because of China that Russia did not want to annoy its strategic partner.

Modern-day Asia is quite different than in the past. Today’s China is the hub of economic development from which the whole region can be benefited. Secondly, the 21st century’s Russia is not the older Soviet state rather it is modern and dynamic Russia.

These two powers manifested their rationality in UNSC meeting on Kashmir. Here, it is a clear diplomatic lesson for Pakistan that along with making good ties with other parts of the world, Pakistan must align its strategic interests with those powers, which exist in the region, and have completely calculated results of any non-violent and violent conflict like Kashmir that can be fatal for regional peace and prosperity.

The writer is an IR analyst based in Islamabad