New Delhi: The “longest-standing” illegal occupation of a territory after World War II has been experienced by India in Kashmir, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday as he highlighted the selective application of global rules on issues pertaining to sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In an interactive session at the Raisina Dialogue, Jaishankar batted for establishing a “strong and fair” United Nations as he raised concerns over historical injustices in dealing with certain issues.
Citing Pakistan’s illegal occupation of Kashmir, the minister said the “attacker” and the “victim” were clubbed under the same bracket.
“After World War II, the longest-standing illegal presence and occupation of a territory by another country pertains to India in Kashmir,” he said.
“We went to the UN. What was an invasion was made into a dispute. The attacker and the victim were put on par,” Jaishankar said.
The external affairs minister said global norms and rules must be applied uniformly.
“We need a strong UN but a strong UN requires a fair UN,” he said.
“A strong global order must have some basic consistency of standards,” he added. (Agencies)
“A strong global order must have some basic consistency of standards,” he said, calling for a new and reformed world order. “Look, I think we do need an international order just like we need a domestic order. Just like you need a society in a country, you need an international version of that and its not just big countries who will benefit if there is no order. I would argue that any country which would take risk, which would have an extreme positions, which would test the system will actually use the disorder to its advantage. I mean we have seen in our own neighbourhood. You don’t have to a big country to be a risky country. I have smaller neighbours who have done a pretty good job. So, first of all, we should all understand the importance of an order.”
Citing another example without naming Pakistan and how the West has been selective in its outlook, Mr Jaishankar said “We (India) have military rule to our east – in Myanmar. They are no-no. But we have them even more to the west. You know where? They seem to be okay (to the West). I think it’s important to audit the working of the world for the last eight decades and be honest about it and to understand today that the balances, the share holdings in the world have changed. We need a different conversation. We need frankly in that sense a different order.”
The minister made these remarks at the session on ‘Thrones and Thorns: Defending the Integrity of Nations’ at The Raisina Dialogue today.
We Went To UN, ‘Invasion’ Was Made ‘Dispute’: Jaishankar On Kashmir
