Pakistan expects UNSC to address Kashmiris’ plight, sufferings : Maleeha

NEW YORK, Aug 15 (APP):With the UN Security Council preparing to hold consultations Friday on India’s annexation of occupied Kashmir, Pakistan’s Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi has called on the 15-member body to take note of New Delhi’s “illegal” action and to reaffirm its commitment to its own resolutions that pledge the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people.
In a series of interviews with international media outlets, she said she had been meeting all the members of the Security Council, including the five permanent members, since the crisis erupted last week and briefing them of the precarious situation in occupied Kashmir.
“We are getting significant traction from the members of the Council,” the Pakistani envoy told TRT, the Turkish international channel.
When her attention was drawn by BBC News to statements made by some Council members on Pakistan’s move for a Council meeting on the crisis, Ambassador Lodhi said, “I am not going to pre-judge what the Council members are going to say but I think they will be guided by the statement of the UN Secretary General (Antonio Guterres).”
The UN chief had voiced concern over India’s action in Kashmir and said that the status of Jammu and Kashmir should not be altered. He also reaffirmed UN resolutions for a settlement of the the decades-old Kashmir dispute,
“It was an important statement and they (Council members) will be guided by that and I think at this point in time the very affirmation or re-affirmation of the Council’s resolutions itself is going to nullify the Indian claim that this is an internal matter,” the Pakistan envoy said.
“So, I think it’s important to wait and see,” she said, while also urging that international opinion, as expressed by the media,”should also be taken note of.