Pakistan reiterates Kashmir just settlement as key to regional stability

A senior Pakistani diplomat told the UN General Assembly that the latest Security Council’s annual report has highlighted the longstanding Kashmir and Palestine disputes which he said must be resolved resolved in accordance with the 15-member body’s own resolutions.

“During the reporting period (January 1 to December 31, 2025),  more than twenty communications concerning the ‘India-Pakistan Question’ were brought to the attention of the Security Council,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to UN, said, pointing out that the Council also held closed consultations under this agenda item in May 2025.

“This underscores that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which has remained on the Council’s agenda for more than seven decades, continues to engage its attention,” Ambassador Asim Ahmad said about the report which Pakistan, as the Council’s President in July 2025, coordinated and drafted.

Pakistan, he said, believes that durable peace in South Asia requires a just settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute under the relevant Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, who must be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination.

The Pakistani envoy’s remarks drew a response from Indian Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish claiming “loud and clear” that Kashmir was an integral part of India, with Pakistani delegate Gul Qaiser Sarwani,  in a sharp rebuttal, accused New Delhi of denying the UN-promised right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people.

In his remarks to the 193-member Assembly, Ambassador Asim Ahmad also said the annual report highlights the continued relevance of long-standing disputes on the Security Council’s agenda, including the Question of Palestine and the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which have implications for regional and international peace and security, and which must be resolved.

 On Palestine, the Pakistani envoy said the continuing tragedy,  particularly in Gaza, remained high on the Council’s agenda. After repeated failures to halt the bloodshed, the Council adopted resolution 2803, endorsing the Gaza Peace Plan and offering a ray of hope.

“It is imperative that resolution 2803 be implemented fully and faithfully,” he said.

Pakistan, he added,  reaffirms its unwavering support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, for an independent, viable and contiguous State of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders, and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

The report also underscores the indispensable role of United Nations peace operations and special political missions, Ambassador Asim Ahmad said. Pakistan, he said,  is committed to strengthening peacekeeping and ensuring that peace operations are effective, adequately resourced and responsive to evolving challenges.

The challenges confronting the international community underscore the need for a more democratic, representative and accountable multilateral system, he said, adding the use of veto remained a concern among Member States.

It was therefore clear that expansion of individual permanent members and veto run counter to these shared objectives, he said.

“We are committed to a comprehensive reform of the Security Council that corresponds to the interest of the large majority of member states, not just a few — Reform for all, privilege for none

Exercising his right of reply, Gul Qaiser Sarwani, Counsellor/Political Coordinator at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, reminded the Indian envoy that Jammu and Kashmir remains an internationally-recognized dispute on the agenda of the Security Council.

“No amount of obfuscation can alter the historical, legal and international character of this dispute, he said, adding Jammu and Kashmir never was, neither is, and nor will ever be so called an integral part of India.”

Sarwani told the General Assembly that India continues to deny Kashmiri people opf their inalienable right to self-determination. Meanwhile, arbitrary detentions, restrictions on fundamental freedoms, demographic engineering and other human rights violations continue in the Indian Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir that have been documented.

“The main problem  is that by refusing to implement Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir, India continues to disregard its obligations under the UN Charter, including Article 25, which requires Member States to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council.”

The Pakistani delegate said India’s efforts to divert attention through allegations against Pakistan cannot conceal its own troubling record: sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan,  perpetrating state terrorism in occupied Kashmir, conducting state-backed assassination campaigns in foreign countries, stoking violence against minorities, support for destabilizing activities in the region and disregard for international law, including its unlawful attempt to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance.