Ceasefire violations: Pakistan presses for UN intervention

In a letter to Sec Gen Ban Ki-moon, Sartaj Aziz calls for early implementation of UN resolutions on Kashmir dispute

ISLAMABAD:

As hostilities on eastern borders continue unabated, Pakistan on Sunday sought intervention of the United Nations to stop India from carrying out ‘deliberate and unprovoked’ violations of the 2003 ceasefire agreement – a move that, analysts believe, could further stoke tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

This comes amid continuing firing by Indian border forces along the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary that has claimed 12 lives since the first day of Eidul Azha.



Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz wrote a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reminding the global forum of its role in resolving the festering dispute over the Himalayan region that has bedeviled relations between Pakistan and India since 1947.

The letter which was released to the media by the Foreign Office on Sunday clearly suggests that Islamabad has hardened its stance on the issue of Kashmir as a result of ongoing tensions along the LoC and Working Boundary.

It is the first time in recent years that Pakistan has forcefully taken up the issue at the international level and also talked of a plebiscite in the disputed region in line with the UN Security Council resolutions passed way back in 1948. During the rule of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, Islamabad had almost abandoned the plebiscite demand as part of an understanding with New Delhi to find an ‘out of box’ solution to the Kashmir issue.

A senior foreign ministry official told The Express Tribune that the government has decided to seek the UN intervention after efforts to engage India through bilateral means failed. India has always been reluctant to third party mediation and insisted that the UN resolutions on Kashmir are no more valid.

However, in the letter addressed to the UN secretary general, Pakistan called for early implementation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir. “I write to bring to your urgent attention the deteriorating security situation along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as along the Working Boundary between Pakistan and India, owing to deliberate and unprovoked violations of the ceasefire agreement and cross-border firing by the Indian forces over the past weeks,”  said Aziz.

He highlighted the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as one of the longstanding issues on the agenda of the UN Security Council, whose resolutions promising a plebiscite, under the auspices of the United Nations, for self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, remain valid though unimplemented to date.

“For decades, Pakistan has been reminding the United Nations and the international community to fulfill that promise, in the interest of durable peace and security in the region,” he added.

Aziz also referred to the recent address by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the UN General Assembly session where he had emphasised that the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir needed to be resolved as one could not draw a veil on the issue of Kashmir, until it was addressed in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

Aziz informed the UN chief that unfortunately, India had adopted a policy that runs counter to its stated desire to engage in a serious bilateral dialogue with Pakistan. India cancelled, unilaterally and without any plausible justification, the foreign secretary level talks that were scheduled to be held on August 25.

The foreign policy wizard further wrote that India had now escalated the situation along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and the Working Boundary. “Persistent shelling and firing by Indian forces has resulted in heavy civilian casualties on the Pakistan side.

“During the period 1-10 October, 2014, 20 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and 22 violations along the Working Boundary were reported, resulting in 12 civilian casualties, 52 injured civilians and 9 injured military personnel on the Pakistani side,” he informed Ban.

Giving details, he said that between June and August, there had been 99 ceasefire violations along the LoC and 32 along the Working Boundary. In all, during 2014, 174 ceasefire violations along the LoC and 60 along the Working Boundary have been reported.

While exercising its right to self-defence, Pakistan had showed utmost restraint and responsibility in responding to these provocations. “The government of Pakistan sincerely hopes that better sense would prevail on the Indian side to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control,” he hoped.

Aziz also welcomed last week’s statement of the UN secretary general in which he expressed concern over the recent escalation of violence along the LoC between India and Pakistan, and deplored the loss of lives and the displacement of civilians on both sides.

“As I write, UNMOGIP personnel are being escorted to areas along the Line of Control, to observe first-hand the ongoing ceasefire violations by the Indian side,” the adviser said.

He said Pakistan was committed to peaceful resolution of all issues between India and Pakistan, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

“This is in the best interest of both India and Pakistan and the region. Pakistan believes that the United Nations has an important role to play in promoting this objective, including through your good offices, which we have always welcomed, and the crucial role of the UNMOGIP on ground, which needs to be strengthened and facilitated under the current circumstances,” he concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2014.