UN Security Council president says body will not discuss Kashmir matter this month

The United Nations Security Council will not discuss the Kashmir matter this month, according to Karen Pierce, the permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, and president of the UN Security Council for the month of November, PTI reported on Saturday. “No, we don’t have anything scheduled on Kashmir,” Pierce said on Friday during a press conference at the United Nations in New York. She was responding to a Syrian reporter who asked her if any discussions were scheduled on Kashmir. “There are a lot of issues going on in the world and each month the presidency picks a few that are not routinely scheduled as part of the rhythm of the Security Council’s business,” Pierce added. “We have not picked Kashmir because the Security Council had an opportunity to discuss it recently and we have not been asked by any other Security Council member to schedule a meeting.” India had on August 5 rescinded the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution, and imposed a lockdown in the state. It also bifurcated the state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. In August, Pakistan and China had sought a United Nations meeting on Kashmir. Following this, the Security Council had closed door consultations on the matter. However, the meeting ended without any official statement from the United Nations. Britain, France and the United States, three of the five permanent members of the Security Council, expressed the view that the Kashmir matter should be solved bilaterally between India and Pakistan. Last month, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had asked India to “fully restore” the rights and liberties denied to Kashmiris on account of the curfew imposed in the Union Territory. Source: Scroll.in