UNSC set to discuss Kashmir issue for second time in five months: sources

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is set to discuss the alarming human rights situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) for the second time in less than six months, Geo News reported Tuesday.

A meeting of the UNSC on the current IoK situation has been scheduled for January 15, according to reports. The council had last discussed the Kashmir issue in August.

Sources said the UN Military Observer Group is likely to brief the members of the Security Council on the rapidly deteriorating situation along the Line of Control (LoC) between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India.

The sources also said Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is on a three-country trip, will arrive in New York today. The meeting comes a month after the foreign minister had penned a letter to the United Nations identifying ceasefire violations by Indian troops along the LoC.

Sources said Tuesday that China had played a key role in convening the meeting. Qureshi had earlier said that China shared Pakistani concerns against India.

In a letter to the UN, Qureshi had earlier expressed concerns over Indian military movement and missile deployment in occupied Kashmir, asking the UN to convene an emergency meeting to discuss the matter.

Members of the UNSC had met for the first time in over five decades in August last year to discuss the critical human rights situation in Indian occupied Kashmir.

The UN council had urged all parties to the dispute to refrain from taking any unilateral action. The meeting had been convened at the request of China and Pakistan, but was conducted behind closed doors. There had been no official missive on the meeting following its conclusion.