(LD):...There
are many conflicts in the world that Britain is best placed to
help resolve, particularly those in the Commonwealth, where
Britain enjoys good relations with all member states. One
conflict area that I would like to draw your Lordships’ attention
to is that of India and Pakistan over the state of Jammu and
Kashmir. This is one of the oldest issues in the history of the
United Nations: the Kashmiris are waiting for the implementation
of the United Nations resolutions of 1948 and 1949. The United
Nations Human Rights Commission report of August 2018 highlighted
very serious human rights violations, including illegal
detentions, torture, murder and rape, and injuries sustained by
civilians at the hand of the Indian security forces. It is
estimated that more than 100,000 people have been killed in
Kashmir over the last couple of decades. It is important to
remember that this conflict is a legacy of the British Empire and
we have a moral duty to help resolve it.
The former state is divided largely between India and Pakistan,
who have been at war with each other three times and have fought
many battles. Now, both countries are nuclear powers, and any war
between them could have a devastating effect on not only the
region but the rest of the world. Both countries are spending
huge amounts on defence, largely to man the difficult mountainous
range around the line of control that divides Kashmir. This year,
the defence budgets of both countries show Pakistan spending $9.2
billion and India spending $63 billion.
Yet according to the Wall Street Journal of 22 March 2016,
Indians have the worst access to safe drinking water in the
world, with 76 million people having no access to clean drinking
water. According to the Times of India on 23 September 2016, in
India, 84 million children do not attend school and 7.8 million
children have to earn a living while they study. According to
Business Today on 3 October 2016, India accounts for one in three
of the poor population worldwide. In 2013, nearly 800 million
people lived on less than $1.90 a day. According to the Business
Standard on 4 June 2015, only around 25% of the population in
India has access to healthcare services. On the other side,
according to the United Nations, four out of 10 Pakistanis live
in multidimensional poverty. The State of Pakistan’s Children
annual report from the Society for the Protection of the Rights
of the Child shows that 22.6 million children in Pakistan are out
of school.
In the light of all this, I wonder whether Her Majesty’s
Government or the Church will offer a ray of hope to the 1.5
billion people of India and Pakistan, including 13 million
Kashmiris, by offering a mediation process between India and
Pakistan to bring peace in that region by resolving the Kashmir
issue through peaceful means and bring an end to the agony of the
Kashmiri people.
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