Simla agreement to be noted in settling Kashmir dispute: UN

United Nations, Aug 8 (IANS) The Simla Agreement of 1972 is also to be noted while finding a final settlement to the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Charter, according to Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

He said, "Our position on Kashmir remains unchanged: That the final settlement of the dispute concerning Jammu and Kashmir is to be reached by peaceful means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and full respect for human rights."

"The Secretary-General also recalls the 1972 agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, also known as the Simla Agreement," he added.

The pact was reached in Shimla between Indira Gandhi, then the prime Minister of India, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s president at that time, in the aftermath of the Bangladesh War of Independence.

The agreement between the two countries stipulated that disputes between the neighbours, including over Kashmir, were bilateral issues to be resolved without the involvement of third parties.

Haq was replying to a question at the daily UN briefing from a Palestinian journalist who alleged that the UN was silent on the "atrocities committed for the past five years" since Article 370 of India's Constitution that gave Kashmir special status was abrogated on August 5, 2019.

UN's position "is governed by the Charter of the United Nations and applicable Security Council resolutions", Haq said.

Security Council Resolution 47 adopted on April 21, 1948, requires the Pakistani government "to secure the withdrawal from the State of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the State for the purpose of fighting, and to prevent any intrusion into the State of such elements and any furnishing of material aid to those fighting in the State".

Although Pakistanis and their supporters cite the Security Council resolution asking for a plebiscite to be held in Kashmir, they ignore the Council’s demand that Pakistan withdraw from the occupied areas.

Under that resolution, Pakistan is also forbidden to aid terrorists in Kashmir.

India maintains that given Pakistan’s failure to abide by the resolution a plebiscite is moot and the people of Kashmir have instead been able to voice their preference through participation in elections there.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

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