India on Tuesday strongly objected to Pakistan raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at an informal United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting, calling the remarks “unwarranted” and asserting that the Union Territory is a matter “strictly internal” to the country.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, made the remarks at an Arria-formula meeting of the Security Council on ‘Bridging the Implementation Gap: Security Council Resolutions and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security’. The meeting was organised by the Permanent Missions of Pakistan and China to the United Nations.
“I also refer to the unwarranted remarks made by the representative of Pakistan. It is incredible that a co-chair expected to be balanced and unbiased in conduct has chosen to politicise this forum,” Harish said.
“I would only like to stress, for brevity of time, that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is a matter strictly internal to India. It has always been, is, and will remain so,” he added.
Harish’s comments came after Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue during his intervention at the meeting.
Pakistan is currently serving a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for 2025 and 2026.
India has consistently maintained that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of the country. New Delhi has repeatedly rejected any third-party mediation on Kashmir, maintaining that the matter is internal.
The two countries have continued to remain at odds over the Kashmir issue.
Speaking on the broader theme of the meeting, Harish said the UN Security Council has been entrusted with maintaining international peace and security, with the UN Charter providing separate mechanisms for addressing conflicts under Chapters VI and VII.
He said the two chapters are distinct and their applicability depends on the nature of the situation.
Harish explained that Chapter VII measures are aimed at the “maintenance or restoration of international peace and security” in cases involving threats to peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression, and that non-implementation could result in “serious consequences”.
Chapter VI, he said, is “fundamentally different” and provides options such as negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation and arbitration after considering any bilateral procedures already adopted by the parties concerned.
“These interventions are drawn up in order to address the prevailing realities and do not have perpetual validity. They warrant a review in accordance with changing circumstances and contexts,” Harish said.
Referring to long-standing issues on the UNSC agenda, he said they offer lessons on the need to reassess outdated frameworks.
“Multi-decadal issues on the UNSC agenda offer valuable lessons in this regard. A case in point is the Palestine issue, wherein a defining feature is the constant churn of mediation frameworks in tune with the changing circumstances of the conflict,” he said.
“There exists an undeniable case for reviewing outdated mediation frameworks. Any assumption of the perpetual applicability of a Chapter VI mediation intervention is erroneous to say the least,” Harish added.
India also highlighted that as member states review UN General Assembly mandates under the UN80 initiative to improve efficiency, Security Council mandates should not remain outside the scope of such reviews.
New Delhi has long been pushing for permanent membership in a reformed and expanded Security Council, arguing that the current 15-member structure does not reflect present-day global realities.
India’s bid for permanent membership has received support from several countries, including European nations, and from the other members of the G4 grouping — Brazil, Germany and Japan.
The UNSC currently consists of five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms, including India.
(With inputs from PTI)
