Stop indulging in polemics, work for peace instead: India’s message to Pakistan at the UN

India has made it clear to the newly appointed Pakistan Government that any attempt at taking the issue surrounding Kashmir to the United Nations would fail. This development has taken place a week after former cricketer-turned-politician swore in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

“We hope that the new government of Pakistan will, rather than indulge in polemics, work constructively to build a safe, stable, secure and developed South Asian region, free of terror and violence, “ said Syed Akbaruddin, the Indian ambassador to the UN, as quoted by NDTV.

In March this year, Pakistan diplomats at the UN had called for a poll in Jammu and Kashmir and India had retaliated back saying that it didn’t need to learn anything on democracy from a, “failed state.”

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“..I take this opportunity to remind Pakistan, the one isolated delegation that made unwarranted references to an integral part of India, that pacific settlement requires pacific intent in thinking and Pacific content in action,” said Akbaruddin at a debate on the topic, ‘mediation and settlement of disputes’ in the United Nations Security Council.

Tariq Mahmood Ahmad, the British minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN, presided over the session.

Such a stern reaction from India came as a response to Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN’s suggestion that the UN Security Council should restart working on the initiatives from 70 years ago to settle the Kashmir issue.

Lodhi had referred to a UNSC resolution in 1948 which led to the formation of a UN Commission to settle the Kashmir issue. The body, after a year of its creation, closed down while admitting that it failed to solve the problem.

Said Akbaruddin, “Regurgitating a failed approach, which has long been rejected, is neither reflective of pacific intent nor a display of Pacific content.”

India had asked the UN and the UNSC whether it was capable enough to solve the dispute due to the presence of, “functional problems,” Akbaruddin stated.

“It is important, however, not to charge the United Nations with responsibilities that it may be ill-suited to perform. Mediation, in every circumstance, is one such task, it is not geared to fulfill,” he added further.