UNSC meet on Kashmir grave diplomatic failure: Congress

The Congress on Friday slammed the Modi government for a “grave diplomatic failure” hours before the United Nations Security Council took up informal discussion on the Kashmir issue at the instance of China.

“This is a grave diplomatic failure of the government to allow internationalisation of the Kashmir issue,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters here.

Singhvi said that Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh is India's internal issue and nobody, group or organisation can assert to the contrary.

“It is for the first time in 48 years that the UN has taken up the Kashmir issue and this is a glaring diplomatic failure by the BJP government,” the Congress spokesman said.

On Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh's comments on the no first use nuclear policy, Singhvi said that the government needed to spell out the nuclear policy clearly.

“This is a very serious issue and it cannot be communicated in ambiguity. There is need for clarity on this and I urge the government to come out clearly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Singhvi welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of creation of the Chief of Defence Staff post.

“The prime minister knows well, the country knows well, that this policy in the making has been on the anvil for a long, long time and it was in fact first mooted largely during the Congress regime. So there is nothing new in it,” he said.

Singhvi noted that the Congress had even criticised the BJP government for the delay in appointing a CDS.

“Therefore we are happy as far as the principle is concerned,” Singhvi told reporters.