London: A Pakistani diplomat in London confronted External Affairs Minister Yashwant
Sinha questioning the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India, but was snubbed with a
blunt reply that reopening the matter would amount to reopening the very issue of
creation of Pakistan.
"The story of Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India is part of the Independence Act.
If you want to re-open all those questions, then you have to re-open the question of
the creation of Pakistan," was Sinha's punchy answer to a pointed question by Ijaz
Hussein who works at Pakistan High Commission in London.
Hussein, an ex-media adviser to President Pervez Musharraf, was a part of the invited
audience at International Institute for Strategic Studies where Sinha was speaking on
'The Future Directions of India's Foreign Policy', on October 31.
Hussein asked Sinha how India could apply to be a permanent member of the Security
Council "after you have mishandled Sri Lanka, bullied Dhaka and blockaded Nepal and
what about the two dozens of UN resolutions on Kashmir that have been ignored on
Kashmir which needs a surgical operation."
Sinha replied, "Pakistan has talked of implementing UN resolutions for a long time.
But the UN resolutions on plebiscite - the resolutions of 1947 and 1948 - were
rejected by Pakistan. Suddenly, Islamabad has demanded that these resolutions should
be implemented."
Posing a counter-question, Sinha asked to the cheers of the audience, "Why have a
plebiscite only in Jammu and Kashmir. Why not in the whole subcontinent and ask if we
want one nation as we were before."
PTI
