Delhi / UNSC meet on Kashmir a diplomatic & strategic failure: Cong

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday said that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) holding a closed-door consultation on Kashmir developments was "a grave diplomatic and strategic" failure of the BJP-led government.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the closed-door meeting was "a matter of great concern to the entire nation."

"We are extremely disturbed, indeed shocked, at what we see happening at the UN supposedly at 7.30 IST. We view it as a matter of great concern to the entire nation, to every citizen of India," he said.

Mr Singhvi said Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are "integral, inalienable, untouchable" parts of India and nobody can state to the contrary.

"This is a non-negotiable issue, non-discussable issue as far as India is concerned," he said.

Mr Singhvi said it shocking that after several decades "this is sought to be internationalised at the UNSC today".

"We are not misled by all these noises about open-door, closed-door... There is no such thing as closed-door in the internationalization of such issues," he said.

He said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was in China and the neighbouring country had the guts to approach the UN Security Council. "Foreign Minister is in China discussing this very issue there. Our diplomats are being mollycoddled by the Chinese and while they are served tea and cakes, under the nose of (PM) Modi government, China has guts to approach the UN, which is having its meeting," he said.

Referring to the re-organisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories and repeal of Article 370, he said: "What we do with laws is internal".

"The fundamental point is that under Shimla agreement, established foreign policy, some of these issues are bilateral issues. Here far from internal, bilateral, we are jumping to internationalization. This is a grave diplomatic failure of the government. It is a grave strategic failure of the government," he said.

"We are also deeply concerned about the fact that something which has not happened for decades allowed to happen without any real protest from the government," he added.

The UNSC held a meeting on the Kashmir developments on Friday after Pakistan -- backed by its all-weather ally -- China, requested "closed consultations" on the issue. India said that the country's national position was and remains that matters related to Kashmir are "entirely an internal matter."