NEW DELHI: After two days of relative quiet on the international border, Pakistan upped the diplomatic ante as it wrote to the UN for an intervention in Jammu & Kashmir.Addressing a letter to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif's foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz said UN had an important role in the peaceful resolution of the "core" issue of J&K and that UNMOGIP, described by India as a tool of a bygone era, needed to be strengthened under the circumstances.
While Aziz accused India of deliberate ceasefire violations and blamed it for the deteriorating LoC security situation, there was no official reaction from the Indian government with sources here saying India did not have to react to all frivolous charges or demands made by Islamabad.
India last week accused Pakistan of harbouring former al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, trying to drive home its point that Islamabad was wrongly accusing India of violating the ceasefire first. Aziz recalled that Sharif had underlined the need to implement UNSC resolutions on J&K in his meeting with Ban last month and went on to blame India for cancellation of foreign secretary-level talks.
"As you are aware, J&K is one of the long outstanding issues on the agenda of the United Nations security council, whose resolutions promising the holding of a plebiscite, under the auspices of the United Nations, for self-determination of the people of Jammu & Kashmir, remain valid though unimplemented to date. For decades, Pakistan has been reminding the United Nations and the international community to fulfill that promise, in the interest of durable peace and security in the region," Aziz said in the letter.
"Unfortunately, India has adopted a policy that runs counter to its stated desire to engage in a serious bilateral dialogue with Pakistan. India cancelled, unilaterally and without any plausible justification, the foreign secretary-level talks that were scheduled to be held on August 25, 2014," Aziz added. He demanded that the contents of the letter be circulated as an official UNSC document.
According to Aziz, persistent shelling and firing by Indian forces had resulted in 12 civilian casualties on the Pakistani side.
"During the period October 1-10, 2014, 20 ceasefire violations along the line of control and 22 violations along the working boundary were reported, resulting in 12 civilian casualties, 52 injured civilians and 9 injured military personnel on the Pakistani side. From June to August 2014, there were 99 ceasefire violations along the line of control and 32 along the working boundary. In all, during 2014, 174 ceasefire violations along the line of control and 60 along the working boundary have been reported," Aziz said.
Source: TNN
0 comments: