The online meeting of national security advisers at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Tuesday was riddled with dislike and controversy after Pakistan used a map showing Indian territories as its own as a backdrop for its representative. Mr Ajit Doval of the Indian NSA raised a strong objection to Pakistan using the illegal map and the Indian side withdrew from the meeting saying that such act was a flagrant violation of the SCO Charter.
“At the meeting of the National Security Advisers (NSA) of the SCO member states, organized by the President of the SCO (Russia), the Pakistani NSA deliberately projected a fictitious map that Pakistan has recently been propagating. This was in blatant disregard of the host’s warning against him and in violation of the meeting’s rules. After consulting with the host, the Indian side left the meeting in protest at this juncture. As expected, Pakistan went on to present a misleading view of this meeting, ”said Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava.
Pakistan is trying to use all fora to internationalize the Kashmir issue even though fora like the SCO do not allow bilateral issues to be brought to the table. According to sources, Russia, as president, went to great lengths to persuade Pakistan not to do so, but its representative, Dr. Moeed Yusuf, special assistant to the Prime Minister for National Security, continued to use the “new political map” as a backdrop.
“India clearly conveyed that Pakistan’s use of a fictitious map as a backdrop for its representative representing sovereign Indian territories as part of Pakistan is a flagrant violation of the SCO Charter and against all of its established norms to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the member states of the SCO. ”The sources said.
Mr. Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the National Security Council of the Russian Federation, conveyed that Russia does not support what Pakistan has done. Sources said Russia hoped that Pakistan’s act of provocation would not affect India’s participation in the SCO and “definitely not cast a shadow over Patrushev’s warm personal relationship with the NSA, for whom he has the greatest respect.” Patrushev’s said it hopes to see the NSA at upcoming events.
Pakistan in a statement showed another picture saying that Dovals objections were overruled at the SCO meeting and the forum agreed on Pakistan’s position as a result, Dr. Moeed Yusuf led the SCO meeting with the new political map of Pakistan as a backdrop for the discussions.
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