India closed a window it was "foolish enough" to open: Jaishankar on Article 370 abrogation

Bengaluru, Jan 06: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday that the decision to take the Kashmir issue to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 1948 was a "fundamental error" and by abrogating Article 370, India closed a 'window of vulnerability' which New Delhi had been "foolish enough" to open.

He said that at that time, India had a view of UN Security Council as a neutral arbiter while a set of countries with their "geo-political agenda" used Kashmir as an issue of "vulnerability" for New Delhi.

The EAM was speaking on his book 'Why Bharat Matters' with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tejasavi Surya at the Golden Jubilee Celebration of PES University in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

"Today it is very clear, in fact not now, it was very clear by 1970s, that taking the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council was a fundamental error because you are taking it at the court where the judges are all stacked against you. These were Western countries who had a bias towards Pakistan," Jaishankar said.

He said that if India had been "hard-headed," it wouldn't have made that 'misreading'.

"Actually, if we had been hard-headed, if we had a good sense of international politics at that stage, we would not have taken that call. It was done as a misreading of what the world was about. Somewhere we saw there is a sanctity about UN...these chaps will be impartial and neutral arbiters," the EAM added.

Jaishankar further said Article 370 had profound implications not just within the country but also on country's foreign policy and it took India decades to finally abrogate it.

"We were taken in for a ride by a set of countries who had their geo-political agenda, who used Kashmir as an issue of vulnerability for us and they continue to use it. It took us decades to finally take the call on Article 370. To me, Article 370 was not just the call within the country...it actually has profound foreign policy implications. We closed today a window of vulnerability which we were foolish enough to open in 1948," he said.

Laying emphasis on young people visiting places having strong historical cultural imprints, the EAM said that a lot of people across the world will be looking forward to the inauguration of Ram Mandir on January 22.

"It's important for young people and those who travel abroad to go to those places where our cultural imprint historically been very strong. Then you will realise that what is happening in India is not something which is limited to us. As you start moving eastwards, you can see a very strong cultural influence," Jaishankar said.

He added, "Because in Korea, there is a kind of belief that, they actually have a connection between their Royalty and Ayodhya. In the last few years, we have seen the revival of Ayodhya. We have actually had Korean participation in cultural programmes. They take it as a matter of pride. On 22nd of January, a lot of people across the world will be looking what's happening".