Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the Kashmir issue while addressing the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday. He called for “dialogue and cooperation” between India and Pakistan to “ensure peace in Kashmir”. “Another development that will pave the way for regional peace, stability and prosperity in South Asia will be the establishment of a just and lasting peace in Kashmir through dialogue and cooperation between India and Pakistan,” Erdogan said in his address.
“Turkey will continue to support the steps to be taken in this direction,” he added. There is no doubt that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is scheduled to address at the UNGA session on 26 September, will be giving a befitting reply to Turkey and all other nations that make any reference to Jammu and Kashmir there. The Indian foreign minister will do all that is necessary to counter what seems to be Pakistan-sponsored agenda to internationalise the Kashmir issue at the UNGA platform. The question being raised by the diplomats here in New Delhi is whether it was the Turkish President’s attempt to set a narrative that suits Pakistan’s agenda? The Turkish government needs to give an explanation as to why it is becoming a party to Pakistan’s propaganda on Jammu and Kashmir. Now, there is every possibility that Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar will also raise the Kashmir issue during his speech at the UNGA session. He is scheduled to address on 22 September. The Turkish President’s remarks on Kashmir will embolden Pakistan to raise the issue of Kashmir at the UNGA session. In fact, Pakistan’s leadership is already looking for such an opportunity to divert the attention away from the internal crisis of the country. Abdul Basit, the former Pakistan high commissioner to India has given enough indication about how Pakistan is keen to use the Turkish President’s comments on Kashmir to push Islamabad’s agenda at the UNGA session. Basit posted a message on X, saying “President of Turkey in his address to UNGA yesterday underlined that Kashmir is the core dispute between India and Pakistan and that the two must resolve it through dialogue. More power to Turkey for standing with people struggling for their rights.”
Erdogan should not have made a comment on what is the internal matter of India. Who is he to suggest a dialogue to resolve the issue? Did he speak anything about terrorism being sponsored, financed and backed by Pakistan? Does he not know that India has already made it clear that talks and terror cannot go together? Pakistan must stop terrorism before expecting any engagement with India. Moreover, Pakistan must stop dreaming that India would ever agree to allow any discussion on Jammu and Kashmir. Jaishankar is expected to raise all these issues and key points. Significantly, Erdogan’s remarks have come a week after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. As Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister is also scheduled to meet several leaders and diplomats during his five-day stay in the US, he in all likelihood will push the Kashmir agenda during interactions with leaders in New York. India needs to be wary of this and must take diplomatic steps to keep countering Pakistan’s propaganda on Jammu and Kashmir at the international forums like UNGA. Battling several crises at home, Pakistan’s caretaker PM will continue to rake up Kashmir at other global platforms as well. This is not the first time that Erdogan made a reference to Jammu and Kashmir before the United Nations. In 2021, Erdogan said that India and Pakistan after having established their sovereignty and independence 75 years ago still have not established peace and solidarity with each other. “This is very much unfortunate,” he had said.
“We hope and pray that a fair and permanent peace and prosperity will be established in Kashmir,” Erdogan had said. Prior to that, in 2020, he had referred to Jammu and Kashmir as a “burning issue” and had emphasised that resolving it was important to the stability and peace of South Asia. He had also referred to India abrogating Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution, saying that it had “further complicated the problem”. Earlier, New Delhi had said that Erdogan’s comments were completely unacceptable and they constituted gross interference in India’s internal affairs. Then India’s reaction was that “Turkey should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its own policies more deeply.”