The UN Security Council (UNSC) passed
a resolution “Reaffirming that
terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations constituted one of the
most serious threats to international
peace and security” but did not name
Pakistan or its terror infrastructure.
Read by rotational French President of
the UN Security Council Jean-Marc de
la Sablière the
statement “condemned in the strongest
terms the 11 July bombs attacks in
India, including Mumbai.”
Some writers have been quick to jump
to the conclusion that the UN is
recognizing that Kashmir is part of
India and that the statement is a
major departure from 1948 positions
that called for a plebiscite for there
were only two explosions on 11 July
and the unnamed one is in Kashmir.
However, the reality is that while
there was overwhelming support to
condemn the terror incident, the US
representative and Cold Warrior John
Bolton was more concerned about what
his friend and ally Pakistan Pervez
Musharraf would say. So, he blocked a
statement that linked the two terror
incidents and allowed the current
statement only on being overruled by
the State Department which saw a lot
of pressure from Japan to support the
draft.
This strong support from Japan is a
result of changing Indo-Japanese
strategic equation which has included
several exchanges and searches for
upgrading their relationship. Japan
agreed with India that condemnation of
the Mumbai blasts should not ignore
the terrorist violence in Jammu and
Kashmir. Supported by Japan, most
countries, except the US’s
representative Bolton, in the UNSC
agreed that there should be no double
standard for judging terror in Jammu
and Kashmir and Mumbai.
Bolton’s baseless argument was any
mention of Jammu and Kashmir in the
statement would lead to political
complications. In previous positions
working on Nuclear proliferation, he
had developed an image of a Nuclear
Ayatollah in the State Department
often any nuclear or high technology
co-operation with India.
While the State Department in
Washington leaned on him to water down
his opposition, the statement itself
did not mention Jammu & Kashmir by
name but referred to “different parts
of India.”
Related News Analysis
United Nations
Terrorism
Indo-US
Indo-Japan
