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Not easy to get UNSC support: Qureshi

Kashmir Times. Dated: 8/14/2019 11:31:30 AM

Asks Pakis not to ‘live in fools’ paradise’

ISLAMABAD, Aug 13(Agencies): Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said it will be a tough task to get the support of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the Muslim world against India’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
While asking his countrymen not to live in a "fool's paradise", Qureshi said Pakistanis need to “wage a new struggle” to get the support of the UNSC members.
“You (people) should not in live fool's paradise. Nobody will be standing there (in the UNSC) with garlands in hands...Nobody will be there waiting for you,” the Pakistan foreign minister said while addressing the media in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir on Monday.
After revoking Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to J&K, India has categorically told the international community that the move is an internal matter and has advised Pakistan to “accept the reality,”
Qureshi, without naming any Muslim country, also said the “guardians of Ummah (Islamic community)” might also not back Pakistan on the Kashmir issue due to their economic interest. He said, “Since these countries, along with many others, have invested in India, it will be not easy for them to oppose India's stand to safeguard their economic interests.” “Different people in the world have their own interests. India is a market of (over) billion people...A lot of people have invested there (India). We often talk about Ummah and Islam but the guardians of Ummah have also made investments there (India) and they have their own interests,” he said.
The Pakistan foreign minister's statement comes two days after Russia becomes the first UNSC member to back India's move on Jammu and Kashmir, saying that the changes in the status are within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
“We proceed from fact that the changes associated with the change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its division into two union territories are carried out within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said in a response to questions last Friday.
As far as US stand is concerned, it has also maintained a neutral position on the issue, saying, “There is no change in its policy on Kashmir as it called on India and Pakistan to maintain restraint and hold direct dialogue to resolve their differences.” However, China, the all-weather ally of Pakistan, has objected to the formation of Ladakh as Union Territory by India. At the same time, Beijing has told Qureshi that it regarded both India and Pakistan as "friendly neighbours" and wants them to resolve the Kashmir issue through UN resolutions and the Simla agreement.