Adhere to UN resolutions on J&K: Malaysia to India

Malaysia reiterated its call to India to adhere to United Nations' resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), even after Prime Minister Narendra Modi explained to his counterpart in the South-East Asian nation, Mahathir Mohamad, the rationale of New Delhi's recent decisions on the state.

The two prime ministers had a meeting on the sideline of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) at Vladivostok in Far East of Russia on Thursday.

Modi told the Malaysian prime minister that New Delhi's decision to strip J&K of its special status and reorganise the state into two Union Territories was an internal matter of India and aimed at ensuring “effective governance and delivering socio-economic justice” to the people.

Mahathir, however, reiterated Kuala Lumpur's stand that all parties should “adhere to United Nations resolutions” on J&K, the Malaysian government's news agency, “Bernama”, reported on Friday, quoting the country's Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah.

Pakistan had launched a diplomatic campaign against India in the wake of the Modi government's decisions on J&K. Malaysia had been among the first nations Pakistan had reached out to, seeking support to its campaign against India.

Mohamad had issued a statement on August 8, tacitly calling upon New Delhi to adhere to the United Nations Security Council's resolutions on Kashmir. The call from Kuala Lumpur had gone against New Delhi's long-standing position that the 1972 Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan and the 1999 Lahore Declaration had left no scope for the UN or any third party to play any role in resolving the “outstanding issues” between the two South Asian neighbours.

With both Modi and Mahathir present in Vladivostok for the Eastern Economic Forum, New Delhi sought to utilize the opportunity to counter the propaganda launched by Islamabad and secure the support of Kuala Lumpur.

Mahathir, however, “did not pledge support for or against any parties but hope the conflict would be settled and it would not escalate in a war,” Bernama reported quoting Malaysian Foreign Minister. Apart from complying with UN resolutions, Malaysian Prime Minister also suggested that “the best way to resolve” the issue of J&K was “through negotiations as well as bringing the third party if necessary or to bring the case to international court”, according to the report published by the national news agency of the South East Asian nation.