Hopes for diplomatic breakthrough dashed as distinguished Kashmir chief urges India and Pakistan to ‘break the ice and engage constructively’.
India’s international minister has dominated out discussing bilateral relations with rival Pakistan as he’s scheduled to embark on his first journey to the neighbouring nation in almost a decade to attend the 2024 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar informed reporters on Saturday that he expects “a lot of media interest” in the potential for chatting with his Pakistani counterpart on the two-day summit in regards to the two international locations’ relations, which stay in a deep freeze since a lethal armed assault in Indian-administered Kashmir in 2019.
“But I do want to say it will be for a multilateral event. I am not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations,” he added.
“I am going there to be a good member of the SCO, but since I am a courteous and civil person, I will behave myself accordingly.”
The Indian Ministry of Exterior Affairs confirmed on Friday that Jaishankar would attend the summit from October 15 to 16, which India chaired final 12 months, however didn’t say if he would meet any Pakistani leaders on the sidelines.
Earlier this 12 months, the international minister mentioned India would wish to discover “a solution to the issue of years-old cross-border terrorism”, including it can’t be the “policy of a good neighbour”.
India has accused Pakistan of backing armed rebels in Kashmir – a cost Islamabad has denied. Pakistan has insisted it solely offers political and ethical backing to what it calls Kashmir’s “freedom fighters”.
Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic relations with India and suspended bilateral commerce after Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped the restricted autonomy granted to Kashmir in August 2019 as a part of his purpose to combine the disputed area into India. India and Pakistan each declare Kashmir in its entirety, however have ruled solely elements of it since independence from British colonial rule.
‘Opportunity to break the ice’
In the meantime, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads the All Occasion Hurriyat Convention (APHC), mentioned on Saturday that India and Pakistan have “a real opportunity” on the SCO summit “to break the ice and engage constructively”.
“Despite increased challenges, the resolve for peaceful resolution of conflict remains stronger than ever. Generations of Kashmiris have been consumed by the uncertainty. We want an end to it, a fair closure,” Farooq mentioned in his first submit on X in 5 years.
Farooq has been below home arrest for a lot of the previous 5 years together with many different pro-freedom Kashmiri leaders. The APHC campaigns for both the area’s merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan or the creation of an impartial nation out of the Himalayan territory.
The SCO is a gaggle of 10 international locations, together with India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, established by Russia and China to deepen ties with Central Asian states.
Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute on the Washington-based Wilson Middle, informed the French information company AFP that India’s choice to attend the assembly in Pakistan was “undoubtedly motivated” extra by its SCO dedication “[than] to a desire to move the needle forward on relations with Pakistan”.
In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a shock go to to Pakistan, prompting hopes that relations might enhance.
Nonetheless, the alternative occurred in 2019 after Modi eliminated the constitutional ensures given to Kashmir and downgraded the area to a federally run territory. Kashmiris have mentioned the transfer denied them their democratic rights to elect their very own representatives.
Elections for the state meeting concluded earlier this week, however analysts mentioned the brand new meeting could have little energy because the New Delhi-appointed lieutenant governor calls all of the pictures.
