India is preparing for a busy July at the United Nations as Pakistan steps up its diplomatic efforts, particularly on the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan, which holds the Chair of the UN Security Council for the month of July, is preparing two signature events during its presidency.
The first is a high level open debate set to be held this week and chaired by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar. While the debate is nominally focused on promoting the peaceful settlement of international disputes, HT has learnt that Islamabad is likely to bring up the Kashmir issue during the open debate. It is understood that India will also prepare to deliver a statement on Kashmir during the debate.
“It is time for the Kashmir dispute to be addressed. And I would say, this is not solely Pakistan’s responsibility – we are here temporarily, serving a two-year term as a non-permanent member,” said Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, in a press conference on July 1.
“It is incumbent upon the Council – especially the permanent members – to take concrete steps to ensure the implementation of their own resolutions,” he went on to say.
Islamabad is also pushing to raise the profile of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation at the United Nations. Its second signature event will be a briefing – once again chaired by Foreign Minister Dar – on the partnership between the OIC and the UN. The OIC, which was formed in 1969, counts 57 nations from West Asia, Africa and Asia among its members. The grouping has repeatedly questioned and criticised India’s handling of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
The OIC has been pushing for an expanded profile at the United Nations for some time now. In November 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for increased cooperation with the OIC on international security, human rights, counter-terrorism and humanitarian issues.
Under Chapter VIII of the United Nations charter, the UN can establish close working partnerships with key regional organisations for the maintenance of international peace and security. A key example of this is the UN’s deep partnership with the African Union, which sees the former provide financial and capacity building support to the latter’s peacekeeping missions in Africa.
According to persons aware of the matter, Pakistan is expected to push for an enhanced regional partnership between the OIC and the UN. However, it is understood that India has concerns about the OIC becoming a key regional partner for the U.N. body’s disparate and geographically dispersed membership. Given the OIC’s prior positions on issues of concern to New Delhi, India is expected to work with countries on the UN Security Council about these concerns.
At the end of the month, Pakistan will hand over the presidency of the UN Security Council to Panama. Pakistan will serve as one of the 10 non-permanent members of the UNSC until 31 December 2026 at the end of its 2 year term. India is currently campaigning to return to the UNSC as a non-permanent member in the 2028-29 term.