The four-day visit of the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) presents a unique opportunity for the government to present its case for Kashmir before the international community. With India continuing its lockdown of IOK, it is important that this issue takes the forefront in any discussions with Antonio Guterres.
The government knows this already; Kashmir has been a foreign policy priority for the ruling power since last year when the lockdown began. Closed door sessions of the Security Council aside, if the Secretary General of the UN can be convinced to make even the most moderate of statements about Kashmir, this would be a diplomatic win for us.
We have a lot of goodwill with the UN to cash in on, especially with our contribution to peacekeeping missions around the world. Our willingness to sacrifice the lives of Pakistanis to maintain peace around the world is something that sets us apart from India, and this has been recognised by the UNSG as well.
This visit also allows for us to show the headway made against terrorism in Pakistan. Mr Guterres is here in person, and he can see exactly how secure Pakistan has become over the course of the last two decades, since the fight against extremism began.
Beyond these two issues, it would not be wholly out of place for Pakistan to initiate discussion on India’s blatant water aggression against us. The Indus Treaty has been virtually rendered ineffective due to India’s actions.
The most important aspect of the visit is the duration; a four-day visit allows for Pakistan to discuss a whole host of issues in detail. Evidence against India’s actions can be presented to further cement our stance. Our eastern neighbour’s actions in Kashmir have not gone unnoticed, we just need to keep pushing the world into accepting this publicly as well. The opportunity is there for the taking; it is hoped we can capitalise on it.