New Delhi: France and Germany have informed the UN Security Council (UNSC) that even if China pushes to bring up the abrogation of Article 370 and the resultant situation in Jammu and Kashmir, they will “refuse” to discuss the matter, multiple sources have told ThePrint.
While it is not yet clear whether Beijing will take up the matter once again at the UNSC after its first attempts failed Tuesday, Paris and Berlin have already made it clear to their “friends” in New Delhi that they will not discuss the matter, asserting that they consider Kashmir to be a “bilateral” issue, diplomatic sources said.
“Our position has been very clear: The Kashmir issue has to be treated bilaterally. We have highlighted this several times recently. We have raised our position within the UNSC,” a French diplomatic source said.
France is one of the five permanent UNSC members — the others being the US, the UK, China and Russia. Germany is among the 15 non-permanent UNSC members.
The development comes after several media reports stated that the UNSC will meet at China’s behest Tuesday to discuss the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, where a communication lockdown has been in place since 5 August, the day the former state lost its special status.
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China may bring it up in ‘any other business’ category
Sources said China may take up the matter under the “any other business”, or AOB category, of the UNSC. While members of the council cannot block the move, they can choose not to discuss the matter, similar to what had happened the last time in August, when the issue was discussed in a closed-door meeting on Beijing’s request.
If China brings up the issue at the UNSC, it will come close on the heels of the recently-concluded informal summit between India and China that took place in Chennai in October when both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were believed to have put “the Kashmir matter to rest”.
This also comes at a time when both sides are expected to hold their next round of talks on the international boundary — the meeting will be between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
According to another source, however, China may be playing this as a “bargaining chip” with its all-weather ally Pakistan, in order to “force it” to agree to loans under President Xi’s mega infrastructure Belt and Road plan.
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Really Nayanima Basu? When did Germany become UNSC permanent member? Please get your facts right
India can always rely on European countries for a support on Kashmir when it is raised in UNSC. Russia will also come to the help of India. But India cannot rely on US and China blindly. There is every chance that they may betray Indian moves some time or the other. This is a time tested friendship India has in the world comity of nations.
Though this came on the heels of mamallapuram talks, reportedly no discussion held between two leaders on art. 370 issue.