Final Day of Debate in Security Council: Intense debate over the future of Kashmir

By: Jacobo Beyer Velez.

The third and final day of COSMUN in the Security Council resumed at the beginning of the debate discussing topic 2, which is the global threat of the geopolitical incident between Pakistan and India. The main goal of today's session was to discuss possible solutions regarding this topic. Imidiateley the delegate of Italy proposed the solution of creating a local government in Kashmir, India, which is where the conflicts are occurring. However, some delegations, such as China, questioned this solution, arguing that by giving this power to Kashmir, the delegations of Pakistan and India would lose all their sovereignty over the territory, possibly leading to the conflict escalating. However, the chair highlights a valuable concept not seen by any delegation present, and that is transforming Kashmir into a semi-autonomous region like Hong Kong. This would prevent the issue mentioned before while also addresing main topic being debated.

Following on, the delegation of the United States proceeds to mention that a mediator is necessary in order to settle this conflict; however, the delegate of Iran rapidly refutes this possible solution, highlighting that this could potentially increase the conflict between the regions. Afterwards, the delegate of China highlights that solutions provided previously, like a ceasefire and assigning a representative, are not going to be effective. On the other hand, delegations such as the United States and India remark that these solutions have worked in the past and would be effective in this case.

As the debate proceeds, the delegation of France brings another point of view into the spotlight, which is that descalation is necessary in order to accomplish peace. The delegate of China again opposes to this idea because the conflict has already started, and intervening in such a way could produce a rapid escalation of the issue. Nevertheless, India again highlights: “India is open to representatives such as the delegation of the United States and countries that have a good relationship with both countries.” The delegation of Germany later addresses another issue, which is massive unemployment rates, and states that India and Pakistan should work together and exchange resources in order to build local industry instead of each working on their own.

The delegation of Germany continues on expanding his solution by mentioning a demilitarisation on the Sone of Kashmir, followed by insisting on creating a local industry. Although the delegation of China completely disagrees once more, some other nation representatives, such as France, agree with the solution proposed by the delegation of Germany. The debate continued with the delegation of Pakistan exposing its way of thinking for the first time during the day. The representative of Pakistan first provided a video by Al Jazeera, where the reality of Muslim citizens in Kashmir is clearly seen. Then, the delegation explains: “As seen in the video, Indian’s express their desire to crush muslims.” This point of view is questioned by the delegation of China, who asks what the position of Pakistan is on the issue, to which Pakistan responds in a short, however brief manner: “The country doesn't want to be seen as a terrorist, that's all the country wants.”

The debate continued in the Security Council, as the delegates debated in order to find a possible solution that addresses all the issues mentioned before, and find a resolution to the conflict. Finally, India also questions Pakistan about its current conflict with Afghanistan, and how it declared war on the country, and how the delegates know for sure that this will not occur in the case of India and Pakistan. To which Pakistan responds, this is a completely different scenario, as India and Afghanistan are completely different countries.