ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump talked by phone on Friday to Prime Minister Imran Khan and urged that Pakistan engage with India to defuse tensions in the flashpoint region of Jammu and Kashmir, the White House quoted the US leader as saying.

“The president conveyed the importance of India and Pakistan reducing tensions through bilateral dialogue regarding the situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement released in Washington.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said PM Khan had called the US president and apprised him of the “delicate situation” precipitated by India’s “unilateral action” because of which “regional peace has been threatened”.

Imran apprises US president of ‘delicate situation’ precipitated by Delhi’s ‘unilateral action’

He said the prime minister had informed Mr Trump about the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting and urged him to “play a constructive role in conveying to India to act responsibly and not to escalate the situation”. President Trump, he said, assured Mr Khan that he would engage with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.

Big step forward

Pakistan hailed the discussion in the UNSC on the situation in India-held Kashmir as a “big step forward” for the Kashmiri struggle which is now said to be back in the international limelight. Foreign Minister Qureshi, while addressing a press conference at the Foreign Office shortly after the UNSC meeting, said the meeting had clearly conveyed to the Kashmiris that they were not alone in this difficult time and that the international status of Kashmir dispute had been reaffirmed.

“It is a watershed moment for the Kashmir dispute,” Mr Qureshi said.

It was for the first time that the UNSC discussed the Kashmir dispute after 1965.

Pakistan had on Tuesday requested the UNSC president to convene a meeting on the Kashmir situation in view of the threat to regional peace and security after India unilaterally changed the status quo on the dispute by revoking the autonomous status of the occupied territory. China, which lent strong support to Pakistan on the issue and also has stakes in the dispute, was instrumental in getting the meeting scheduled at the earliest.

India, whose argument had been that scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter, made multiple attempts to stop the Security Council from deliberating on the issue. Mr Qureshi, in his presser, mentioned the uncertainty that hung over the meeting due to Indian attempts at scuttling it till the discussion actually happened.

“We appreciate the members of UNSC for realising the gravity of the situation and convening the session despite strong Indian opposition,” he noted.

The UNSC members at the closed-door meeting, Mr Qureshi said, expressed concern over the aggravating situation in occupied Kashmir, especially the human rights violations being committed by the Indian troops there.

Chinese Permanent Representative at the UN Zhang Jun, while talking to reporters in New York, said the Security Council members had asked the parties to the conflict to refrain from unilateral actions that could aggravate the situation. The parties to the conflict, he said, were asked to act prudently.

Mr Qureshi underscored that the discussion at the Security Council had by implication rejected New Delhi’s position that the Kashmir dispute was a bilateral matter and the recent developments in the occupied region were India’s internal issue. He said the discussion further suggested that the international community was keeping an eye on the evolving situation in held Kashmir and the UNSC members would pay closer attention when more details about the situation in the valley emerged once Indian blockade of communication lines loosened.

The meeting was preceded by some hectic diplomacy led by Prime Minister Khan. Mr Qureshi contacted the foreign ministers of UNSC-member countries.

Mr Qureshi stressed that the discussion on Kashmir in the Security Council was just the first step and not the last one for supporting the Kashmir cause. This support, he reaffirmed, would continue till “justice is done” to the Kashmiris.

The foreign minister would on Saturday chair a high-level session at the Foreign Office, involving all other stakeholders, to discuss the next steps. “As the situation evolves, we will adjust our strategy. We remain committed to stand firm on our principled position on Kashmir and in solidarity with Kashmiris,” he added.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2019