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Talking To A Wall: edit in The Nation, Oct 5, 2016

Recent events prove that India doesn’t want the UN to mediate between Pakistan and India. A neutral body calling the shots will make India lose control of the narrative. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s offer to act as a mediator first came on September 30 after Pakistan’s UN ambassador urged Ban to intervene after India’s unprovoked hostilities led to losses on both sides of the border at the LoC. Pakistan’s insistence upon a resolution through dialogue is proof of a rational Indian policy, despite the cries of war mongering emanating from the other side.

India is possibly shutting out the UN after it faced international embarrassment when their ‘surgical strikes’ claims were rubbished after Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric refused to corroborate them. The UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) had observed no such strike. Then, on Friday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed regrets over the fact that UNMOGIP has not been able to fulfil its purpose due to India’s non-cooperation, adding that the UN’s military mission is only able to operate on the Pakistani controlled side of the LoC. Usually, it has been fascist states that have closed themselves to independent monitoring, yet India gets away with it due to its hypnotic façade of a liberal democracy.

Two weeks ago, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was denied his request seeking access to both sides of the LoC. India insisted that “it was unanimously felt that the Indian democracy has all that is required to address legitimate grievances.” So not only does it not want anybody to establish facts, India has also stated that Kashmiri grievances are not legitimate.

During the 1950s, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had invited Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra to sort out the plebiscite issue in Kashmir. The discussions between the two had almost led to Nehru agreeing to appoint a Plebiscite Administrator by April 1954. However, Pakistan then joined the CENTO alliance and India used this as a reason to reject the plebiscite and to cancel the talks. India’s strong-arm politics have stood the test of time.http://nation.com.pk/editorials/05-Oct-2016/talking-to-a-wall

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