Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi | Photo Credit: AP

Key Highlights UNSC to hold a closed-door meeting on Kashmir today Pakistan had asked the UNSC to discuss Kashmir Ahead of UNSC meeting, Pakistan is jittery and has been dialling up non-permanent members

Islamabad/New York: Ahead of the closed-door consultations on Kashmir at the United Security Council (UNSC) later on Friday, Pakistan appears to be getting jittery about the outcome and has now started lobbying for support.

The UNSC will be meeting later today in New York to discuss the Kashmir matter – revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status by India – after receiving a letter from Islamabad. Pakistan’s close ally, China too asked the UN body to hold "closed consultations". The meeting is set to start at 10 am (7:30 pm Indian time).

The UNSC had earlier dealt a blow to Pakistan’s plans by rejecting its call to hold a formal session on Kashmir. Islamabad also wanted to be a participant in the consultations. The UNSC, however, agreed to hold a closed-door meeting at Beijing’s insistence.

Today, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister started efforts to lobby with non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. Reports said Shah Mehmood Qureshi has dialled his counterparts in the Dominican Republic and South Africa to muster support on the Kashmir matter ahead of the UNSC meet.

Qureshi may have been forced to dial up his counterparts at UNSC non-permanent members in view of the fact that Poland, current chair of the UNSC, had earlier indicated that Kashmir is a bilateral issue.

Qureshi’s efforts today too, appear to be proving futile. South African Parliament is reported to be divided on the matter the South Africa Opposition leader and DA Shadow Deputy Minister for International Relations Sandy Kalyan has called Kashmir "an internal matter of India". Kalyan said she will apprise the South African foreign minister of the same requesting him not to agree to Pakistan’s agenda.

Speaking to Times Now, Kalyan said she welcomes the steps taken by PM Modi while adding that they have no business whatsoever to intervene in the matter.

Kalyan said the Constitution of South Africa permits dialogue with all countries, but as Opposition, they will ask the foreign minister not to take sides and rather call it an internal matter of India.

Today’s ‘closed consultations’ at the UNSC will be the first at the UN body since 1964-65. As per UN records, the last time "the Security Council addressed the dispute between India and Pakistan over the territories of Jammu and Kashmir” under agenda item 'The India-Pakistan question' was in 1964-65.

Pakistan had called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after India earlier this month on August 5 decided to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories.

After writing a letter to Polish US Ambassador Joanna Wronecka, Qureshi flew to Beijing to hold consultations on the Kashmir issue.