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India, Pak likely to lock horns over Kashmir at UN Human Rights body session today
YB WEB DESK. Dated: 9/10/2019 3:16:17 PM
India and Pakistan are once again expected to come face-to-face at an international forum, this time at the United Nations human rights body in Geneva, over the status of Jammu and Kashmir.
The two nations have been at loggerheads ever since India scrapped Article 370, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir. While Pakistan has pulled all stops to make Kashmir an international issue by raising it at several fora, India has been consistent with its position that J&K has always been its internal matter and will be dealt with accordingly.
Almost all of Pakistan's efforts to get the international community to comment on the status of J&K have fallen flat, with even the closed-door meeting at the UN yielding it no dividends.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will raise the matter at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), news agency IANS reported.
India, on the other hand, has sent Ajay Bisaria, the former High Commissioner to Pakistan, expelled as part of its 5-point strategy to downgrade ties with its neighbour.
The latest face-off comes just a day after UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet asked India and Pakistan to ensure that the human rights of the Kashmiri people are respected and protected.
"I am deeply concerned about the impact of recent actions by the Government of India on the human rights of Kashmiris, including restrictions on internet communications and peaceful assembly, and the detention of local political leaders and activists," she said in her opening statement at the 42nd session of the Human Rights Council.
"While I continue to urge the Governments of India and Pakistan to ensure that human rights are respected and protected, I have appealed particularly to India to ease the current lockdowns or curfews; to ensure people's access to basic services; and that all due process rights are respected for those who have been detained," she said.