The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will meet behind-closed-doors on Friday at the request of Pakistan and China to discuss India’s decision to revoke the special status of occupied Kashmir.
However, contrary to earlier reports, the meeting is not an “emergency session”, but a consultation, which is mostly informal, closed-door and does not allow the participation of non-members, lawyer Reema Omer tweeted.
In letters to the UN secretary general and the UNSC rotating chair for the month of August, Poland, Islamabad had sought an open discussion at the top-decision making forum, with a personal pitch from Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to his Polish counterpart Jacek Czaputowicz.
What Pakistan has been granted at the UN is a “consultation”, not an “open” or a “closed meeting”.
DIFFERENCE:
Both open and closed meetings are formal meetings of the UNSC. Closed meetings are not open to the public and no verbatim record of statements is kept, instead, the UNSC issues a press release.
Consultations, on the other hand, are informal meetings of the council members.
Clarifying the situation further, Reema tweeted:
While it is not a formal meeting, it is extremely rare for the UNSC to discuss Kashmir, which has been divided between Pakistan and India since independence from Britain in 1947.
The last time there was a full UNSC meeting on the Himalayan region was in 1965.
