India and Pakistan crossed words over Kashmir at the South Asian Speakers Summit that began in Maldives on Sunday after Pakistan’s Deputy Speaker tried to draw attention of the delegates to “atrocities” in Jammu and Kashmir.

Since Pakistan has always sought to rake up Kashmir in international fora, the Indian delegation had clearly come prepared for such a move as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh immediately sought and secured a point of order to demand that whatever Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri had said on Kashmir should not become part of the proceedings.

“We strongly object to the raising of internal matter of India in this forum. We also reject the politicisation of this forum by raising issues which are extraneous to the theme of this summit. There is need for Pakistan to end cross-border terrorism and all kinds of state support to the same in the interest of regional peace and stability. Terrorism is the biggest threat for the entire humanity and the world today…,” he read out from a prepared text.

Reminding the gathering that the Chair had repeatedly told delegates that the forum should be only to discuss sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the UN, Harivansh said: “This should not be part of the proceedings.”

Before he was interrupted by Harivansh, Pakistan’s Deputy Chairman had said: “Kashmiris’ condition cannot be ignored. We cannot turn a blind eye to atrocities being committed against people. Our parliament stands with the oppressed the world over.”

As soon as he brought up Kashmir, there were efforts from the Chair also to steer Suri away from contentious issues. After Harivansh, a Pakistani Senate representative rose to keep the focus on Kashmir on the plea that SDGs cannot be implemented in the absence of basic human rights.

“None of the SDGs can be achieved without human rights. If you have no people to implement SDGs on, who are you going to implement sustainable development goals for? Just land? The atrocities being meted out in Kashmir on women… are related directly to SDGs,” she said, as the Chair sought to cut her short.

Jadhav access

Kulbhushan Jadhav, the retired Indian naval officer sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage, will be granted consular access on Monday, nearly a month-and-a-half after the International Court of Justice directed Islamabad to do so as per the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Pakistan foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted on Sunday evening. “Consular access for Indian spy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, a serving Indian naval officer and RAW operative, is being provided on Monday 2 September 2019, in line with Vienna Convention on Consular relations, ICJ judgement & the laws of Pakistan. Commander Jadhav remains in Pakistan’s custody, for espionage, terrorism and sabotage.”