New York: Pakistan’s foreign minister struggled briefly to define his country’s relationship with India at a news conference.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari settled for “neighbouring countries” after using the word “friends” during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York. Bilawal was talking about the long-gestating Kashmir issue on the sidelines of the Commission on the Status of Women when he found himself in a spot.
A comparison between the Palestine problem and the dispute between India and Pakistan, two longtime adversaries and nuclear-armed nations, who both claim the Kashmir territory as their own, was made to him. He said Pakistan faces an “uphill task” in getting the UN to focus its attention on Kashmir.
“And whenever the subject of Kashmir is raised, our friends within, with... our friends... our neighbouring countries, vehemently object, vociferously object, and they continue to push a post-fact narrative in which they attempt to argue that this is not a matter for the UN and that this is not a territory that is disputed and recognised by the international community,” Bilawal said. They have revoked of a seven-decade-long privileged status for Kashmir by India in 2019 further exacerbated tensions.
Bilawal said drawing parallels between Kashmir and the Palestinian conflict was “very justified” as there are “many similarities between the plight of the people of Kashmir and the plight of the people of Palestine”. “I think it’s fair to say that both issues remain unaddressed by the United Nations, and we’d like to see an extra focus not only on Palestine but also on Kashmir,” he said.