Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council, convened at Pakistan’s request, concluded without any statement, resolution, or official outcome. No significant response emerged from the discussion. The meeting took place just hours after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the situation had reached its most volatile point in years.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, once again misused the UN Security Council platform to spread false claims against India. In an attempt to divert attention from the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians, Pakistan brought up the Kashmir issue, accusing India of military buildup and making provocative statements.
Ahmad also termed India’s recent suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty an “act of aggression,” in what India sees as a deliberate attempt to shift global focus away from Islamabad’s role in supporting cross-border terrorism.
Pakistan, currently a non-permanent member of the powerful 15-nation Security Council, had requested closed consultations to address the issue.
As the Council president for May, Greece scheduled a closed-door meeting for the afternoon of May 5. Unlike formal sessions held in the UNSC Chamber—where members convened around the iconic horse-shoe table—this consultation took place in a separate room next to the chamber.
Following the meeting, Pakistan’s UN envoy Asim Iftikhar Ahmad briefed reporters.
Prior to the UNSC meeting, India’s former Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, told PTI that no “consequential outcome” can be expected from “a discussion where a party to the conflict seeks to shape perceptions by using its membership of the Council. India will parry such Pakistani efforts”.
In August 2019, China requested closed UNSC consultations to discuss India’s move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. That meeting had ended without any outcome or statement from the powerful 15-nation UN organ, dealing a huge snub to Pakistan’s efforts, backed by Beijing, to internationalise the Kashmir issue, which an overwhelming majority in the Council stressed is a bilateral matter between New Delhi and Islamabad.
TENSIONS AT THEIR PEAK
On Monday morning, Guterres voiced concern over tensions between India and Pakistan being at “their highest in years”, saying “it pains me to see relations reaching a boiling point”. Guterres made the remarks to the press amid rising tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people.