India warns China for raking up Kashmir in UNSC at Pakistan’s behest

NEW DELHI: Hours after China raised the Kashmir issue for deliberations in the 15-nation UN Security Council (UNSC) at the behest of all-weather friend Pakistan, India on Thursday said it rejected China’s interference in India’s internal affairs, adding that the Chinese attempt once again “met with little support from the international community”.

New Delhi also “urged” Beijing “to draw proper conclusions from such infructuous attempts”.  This is the second time in two days that India has criticised China for its comments and actions on the Kashmir issue.

Making no secret of the close collaboration on the matter between China and Pakistan, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted late on Wednesday night that this was the third time in the past one year when the matter was raised at the UN and thanked China “especially” for the move, adding that Pakistan “welcomed” the meeting.

The Chinese move in collaboration with Pakistan was obviously planned at the UN due to the first anniversary on Wednesday of India’s revoking of Article 370, a Constitutional provision  that had granted special status to the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

India had also split the erstwhile State of J&K into the two union territories of J&K and Ladakh last year. China first began raising the Kashmir issue last year at the UNSC for informal deliberations soon after India revoked Article 370.

On Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “We have noted that China initiated a discussion in the UN Security Council on issues pertaining to the Indian Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. This was not the first time that China has sought to raise a subject that is solely an internal matter of India. As on such previous occasions, this attempt too met with little support from the international community. We firmly reject China’s interference in our internal affairs and urge it to draw proper conclusions from such infructuous attempts.”

India had on Wednesday too snubbed China and asked it to refrain from interference in India’s internal affairs, just hours after Beijing termed the revoking of Article 370 a year ago by New Delhi as “illegal and invalid”.

India added that China had no locus standi on the issue. “We have noted the comments of the Chinese MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) spokesperson on the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Chinese side has no locus standi whatsoever on this matter and is advised not to comment on the internal affairs of other nations,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said on Wednesday evening.

Chinese MFA Spokesperson Wang Wenbin was quoted by media reports as saying at the regular ministry briefing on Wednesday in Beijing, “China follows closely the situation in the Kashmir region. China’s position on the Kashmir issue is clear and consistent.

This issue is a dispute leftover from history between Pakistan and India. That is an objective fact as laid out by the UN Charter, UN Security Council resolutions and the bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India. Any unilateral change to the status quo is illegal and invalid. This issue should be properly resolved peacefully through dialogue and consultations between the parties concerned.” [Agencies]