Pakistan calls UNSC to address Kashmir, Palestine disputes
NEW YORK (92 News) – At the United Nations, Pakistan has called for a just and lasting resolution of the Kashmir dispute along with the Palestine issue to promote international peace and security.
Speaking in the 15-member Council’s debate on the situation in the Middle East, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi pointed out that these disputes have remained on the agenda of the UN almost since its inception.
“However, the people of occupied Kashmir and Palestine continue to endure prolonged repression and denial of their legitimate right to self-determination,” she said.
She said it is indeed regrettable that the international community and the UN have been unable to realize just and lasting solutions to these problems.
Maleeha Lodhi said the systematic erosion of established norms of international law and the fundamental principles of the UN Charter has seriously undermined the Council’s ability to resolve these disputes and has worsened an already fragile environment in the Middle East.
Citing unilateral decisions aimed at eroding the longstanding international consensus on the status of Jerusalem and recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Syrian Golan, Lodhi warned the security council that such measures deal a blow to the rule of international law and frustrate the international community’ efforts to find long-term and peaceful solutions.
“If the primacy of ‘we the peoples’ is to be more than just words,” Ambassador Lodhi underscored, the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter must be ensured to all peoples.
She also pointed to a growing tendency in the world by some to erode well-established norms of international law, including respect for sovereignty and the territorial integrity of states, and the prohibition of the use of force.
Denial of self-determination to Kashmiris violation of UN Charter
Earlier, Pakistan has told the UN General Assembly that the continued denial of the right to self-determination to the people of Indian-held Jammu Kashmir (IHK) was not only a travesty of justice, but also an “egregious violation” of the UN Charter.
Addressing a special meeting of the 193-member Assembly to commemorate the “International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace”, Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN Maleeha Lodhi urged the international community to stand united against any attempts to undermine the sanctity of the UN Charter or to reinterpret its fundamental provisions to suit narrow aims.
