Pakistan has written to the UN Security Council asking for a meeting over Jammu and Kashmir (File)
Pakistan on Tuesday asked the United Nations Security Council to meet over India's decision to revoke Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir under a "temporary" provision in the Constitution of India. Article 370 allowed Jammu and Kashmir to have a separate constitution and flag, and gave New Delhi control only on matters of defence, communications and foreign affairs. It also meant that other Indian laws did not apply to the state, thereby proving to be a hindrance between the central and state governments.
Telephone lines and the internet have been blocked since the August 5 decision and there are restrictions on movement and assembly of people in order to maintain law and order.
"Pakistan will not provoke a conflict, but India should not mistake our restraint for weakness," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi wrote in a letter to the UN Security Council seen by news agency Reuters.
"If India chooses to resort again to the use of force, Pakistan will be obliged to respond, in self defence, with all its capabilities," he claimed, adding that "in view of the dangerous implications" Pakistan requested the UN Security Council meeting.
It is not immediately clear how the 15-member council would respond to the request and whether a member of the body would also need to make a formal request. Pakistan claimed on Saturday it had China's support for the move.
Poland is president of the UN Security Council for August. Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz told reporters at the United Nations on Tuesday that the council had received a letter from Pakistan and "will discuss that issue and take a proper decision."