Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi met with President of UN Security Council Joanna Wronecka to discuss regional security implications of India's decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir state
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2019) Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi met with President of UN Security Council Joanna Wronecka to discuss regional security implications of India's decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir state.Earlier in the day, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind announced that Article 370 of the constitution, which had guaranteed the Jammu and Kashmir's special status for decades, had been revoked as of Tuesday.
"Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi has apprised the President of UN Security Council Joanna Wronecka about the grave threat to regional peace and security posed by India's illegal actions in occupied Jammu and #Kashmir," the government of Pakistan said on Facebook after the New York meeting.
Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan convened the second session of the National Security Committee within a week.
Article 370 of the Indian constitution protected the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, requiring the mandatory approval of most of the laws adopted by the Indian parliament in the local assembly. On Tuesday, the Indian government voted to split the Ladakh region from Jammu and Kashmir and grant it the status of a union territory without a legislature, which meant it would be directly controlled by the Federal government.
India and Pakistan have contended for the Kashmir region since the end of British rule in 1947. Despite a ceasefire reached in 2003 after several armed conflicts, instability has continued, leading to the emergence of various extremist groups. Tensions spiked earlier this year when the Indian military conducted airstrikes in the region in response to an attack orchestrated by a terrorist group based on the Pakistani side of Kashmir.
