Moscow: Pakistan has found itself checkmated at every turn when it comes to garnering support against India’s decision to scrap Article 370. The latest led down for Pakistani Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, is Russia’s advice to Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue bilaterally.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that there is a need to de-escalate the tensions between the countries. He advised the Pakistanis that there is no alternative to resolve the issues between the two countries except through bilateral political and diplomatic means.
The Russian foreign minister echoed India’s position which is always against third party intervention or mediation in Kashmir issue. India always looked for resolving the issue bilaterally with Pakistan.
Russia, one of India’s oldest and strongest ally, has supported India’s cause at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). They said that India had acted under the framework of its constitution when it came to abrogating Article 370.
The Russian government said, “Change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its division into two Union Territories are carried out within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India.”
Russia also reminded about the Simla and Lahore accords which calls for solving the Kashmir issue through bilateral means between India and Pakistan.
Russia, one of the permanent members of the UNSC, said, “We hope that the differences between them (India and Pakistan) will be resolved by political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis in accordance with the provisions of the Simla Agreement of 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999.”
Since India abrogated Article 370, Pakistan has been trying to garner international support against India. However, India’s diplomatic clout has ensured that Pakistan has faced only dead ends at every corner. Traditional friends of Pakistan like United Arab Emirates have supported India’s decision.
The only powerful country which supports Pakistan is China, which also has interests in Aksai Chin. The Chinese occupied territory also belongs to India and the communist country is worried that it will lose its hegemony over the territory.
With Russia backing India strongly at the UNSC, India’s cause will have a greater bearing than Pakistan’s weak position vis-a-vis with Kashmir.
