Belgium – India and Pakistan (GLIMUN 2008)
Topic: India and Pakistan
Country: Belgium
Delegate Name: Garrett Wilkes
School: Forest Hills Central High School
The countries India and Pakistan, each determined to control the area known as Kashmir, have fought bitter wars and engaged in sporadic violence throughout the years, up to this current day. Pakistan advocates that the predominant Muslim population should vote to see where it should belong to, thus giving it to Pakistan. India, on the other hand, refuses to give ground and desires for the Line of Control, established by the UN in 1971, should become the official boundary. Beside the arguments between Pakistan and India, many Kashmiris also push for outright independence from either country. These three very determined, very violent pressure groups have only made Kashmir and Jammu into a hotbed of intolerance and hatred. With the threat of nuclear weapons looming above this conflict from both India and Pakistan, Belgium believes the issue of Kashmir is one of the most urgent issues the Security Council has on its shoulders.
Belgium believes that the priority for the issue is to return law and order to the region first. Belgium would like India and Pakistan to come to terms more first before any decisive action should be taken place. That way, both India and Pakistan have the social maturity to accept whatever outcome occurs. Belgium applauds the efforts of the UN to resolve the issue, including the INMOGIP set in charge of looking after the Line of Control. Belgium would like to see multilateral pressure on Pakistan and India to end the violence and a continuation of heavy UN involvement in Kashmir. Belgium remains open as to how to settle the issue of Kashmir, keeping in mind the views of all three viewpoints, and feels that it is a requirement for the Security Council to carefully consider the interests of all sides before any resolution gets passed. That being said, Belgium does seriously consider the idea of establishing the Line of Control as the official border between Pakistan and India. More meetings should be brought up concerning this topic should also be included in a resolution to continue down the road to peace. Belgium remains hopeful that the two countries will cooperate better to end their violence, and that reasonable talk over Kashmir will blossom into a settlement both sides can assent to.
Belgium’s view is supported in Resolution 301, passed in 1971, that demands the end to the violence and the end of immaturity from both sides. This document expresses Belgium’s every hope for the issue, believing that the UN’s intervention is a key step in bringing peace to the region. Belgium especially wants to call to attention the clauses that express calling upon international assistance and relief and that the cessation of hostilities be strictly observed. Statements made from the delegate of Belgium on October 14, 2008, in debate about Pakistan offer the sincere sentiments that Belgium offers for the region, and will promise its support for the paper that will offer the most reasonable, practicable approach to peace in the region.
Belgium again wishes to express its policy of openness and how it wants to encourage good relations between the nations involved. Belgium asserts that the other countries in the Security Council all share this same sentiment, and with that as a foundation, this council can build the beginning of the end of the terror in Kashmir and Jammu.