India has slammed Pakistan for again trying to raise the Kashmir issue in the UN Security Council where it failed one more time to find any support, with New Delhi asserting that Islamabad needs to focus on the hard tasks it has to address in order to ensure normal relations with India. China,Pakistan’s ‘all-weather ally’, on Wednesday stood alone in the Pakistani corner to get the Security Council to focus on the Kashmir issue. The attempt failed as other member countries felt Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.

Earlier on the day, China made the fresh pitch to raise the Kashmir issue under “other matters” during closed consultations in the Security Council Consultations Room. India’s Permenent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbarudd in said: “We once again saw an effort made by one member state of the UN, fail in plain view of all others”. “We are happy that neither alarmist scenario painted by the representatives of Pakistan nor any of the baseless allegations made repeatedly by representatives of Pakistan in theUN fora were found to be credible today,” Akbaruddin told PTI. “We are gladthat the effort was viewed as a distraction and it was pointed by many friendsthat bilateral mechanisms are available to raise and address issues thatPakistan may have in its ties with India,” he said. A European source, headinginto the Security Council meeting, described the discussions on Kashmir duringthe closed consultations to be “low key.” A top European diplomat said the issue should be resolved bilaterally and it was a “domestic affair”. Akbaruddin further said, “Pakistan’s practice of using false pretences to distract from addressing the malaise that afflicts it has run its course. We hope that Pakistan pays heed to the clear signals sent out here today and focusses on thehard tasks it has to address in order to ensure normal relations with India.”

Coming out of the meeting, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Junsaid: “We had a meeting on Jammu and Kashmir. And I’m sure you all know thatForeign Minister of Pakistan wrote letters to the Security Council asking it topay attention to the current situation in Jammu and kashmir. “The issue ofIndia and Pakistan has always been on the agenda of the Security Council andtoday we have also seen some tensions, so the Security Council had a briefingand (it) heard at the briefing from the Secretariat concerning the currentsituation on the ground.

Members exchanged views on that.” Zhang later said China hasstated its “position very clearly. We remain concern about the situation on theground (in Kashmir).” When asked if the meeting advanced anything, he said: “Iam sure the meeting will help both the parties to understand the risk offurther escalation and will encourage them to approach each other and have adialogue and seek solutions through dialogue. I think that will be helpful.”

The current move by China was the third such attempt toraise the Kashmir issue in the UNSC since August last when the special statusgranted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution was scrappedby the government, and the state was bifurcated into two union territories. InAugust, China pushed for a UNSC meeting on Kashmir. However, the meeting didnot yield desired results for China as the member-states maintained thatIndia’s move was an internal issue.

Last month, France, the US, the UK and Russia foiled anattempt by China to discuss Kashmir at a closed-door meeting of the UNSC. Chinahas been critical of India’s reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir, and hascriticised New Delhi for making Ladakh a union territory. China lays claim overseveral parts of Ladakh.

New Delhi’s decisions on Kashmir had also cast a shadow overChinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India in October last for the secondinformal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Notwithstanding the acrimonyover the issue between the two countries, Modi and Xi held “successful” talksin the ancient coastal town of Mamallapuram near Chennai in Tamil Nadu,signalling a recalibration of the bilateral ties.