India’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj, evaded a question on the Kashmir dispute during a press conference she convened at the UN Headquarters in New York to highlight her country’s success in landing its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the moon on Wednesday.
When a Palestinian journalist asked whether this significant moment would lead to a settlement of the Kashmir dispute in a way that the Kashmiri people exercise their right of self-determination, she said, “This is not the moment for these questions.”
Kashmir was a part of the journalist’s three questions – the other were on the expansion of BRICS and on whether India’s success in moon landing would help in its drive to secure a perma-nent seat on the UN Security Council.
Side-steeping the questions, Ambassador Kamboj said, “Today’s the day of celebration, and we are focusing on India’s success and indeed, the success of the whole of humanity.” “But”, she added, “these questions are very valid, and I will be very happy to answer these questions on a different occasion.”—KMS
