Pakistan has formally called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to discuss India’s move to revoke the special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday.

In a video message, Qureshi said that he sent a formal letter to the president of the UNSC through Permanent Representative Maleha Lodhi to convene the meeting.

Qureshi said that the letter will also be shared with all members of the UNSC.

“I have requested in the letter that a special meeting of the Security Council should be called to discuss those actions of India which we consider as illegal and against the UN resolutions,” he said.

Qureshi said that the decision to call for the UNSC meeting was taken in the meeting of high-profile National Security Committee meeting held last week.

Qureshi said Pakistan considered India’s actions in Kashmir as a threat to the regional peace.

“It is a mistake on part of India if it thought that it could crush the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir,” he said.

Qureshi said whole Pakistan will express solidary with Kashmiris on Wednesday.

Qureshi said that Kashmiris must remember that Pakistan stands with them and is ready to go to any extent for them.

India has categorically told the international community that its move to scrap Article 370 of the Constitution removing the special status to Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter and has also advised Pakistan to “accept the reality”.

Meanwhile, China has “assured Pakistan of its support and commitment” and announced that it supported Islamabad’s decision to approach the UN Security Council in the wake of India’s decision to scrap Article 370 of its Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

An official statement on this was issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry after a meeting between visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Friday.

“The Kashmir issue is a dispute left from colonial history. It should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreement,” the statement said.

“China believes that unilateral actions that will complicate the situation should not be taken.”

After his meeting with Wang, Qureshi had said that China intends to support Pakistan in the UNSC over the Kashmir issue.

Earlier last week, China’s Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing had said that Jammu and Kashmir was an “internationally recognized disputed territory”, and criticised the Indian government for unilaterally revoking its special status.

The Indian Parliament on August 6 revoked Article 370 of the Constitution and approved bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.

However, Russia, one of the P-5 members of the UNSC has backed India’s move, saying that the changes were within the framework of the Indian Constitution, even as it urged the two neighbours to maintain peace.

“We proceed from fact that the changes associated with the change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its division into two union territories are carried out within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said in a statement.

The United States also had earlier on Friday said that there is no change in its policy on Kashmir and called on India and Pakistan to maintain calm and restraint.

The US policy has been that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and it is up to the two countries to decide on the pace and scope of the talks on the issue.

On abrogation of Article 370, India had earlier briefed the UN Security Council’s five permanent members – US, Britain, France, China and Russia.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had explained that the changes made were to a “temporary” article.

Pakistan has been upping the ante against India ever since New Delhi on August 5 revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two Union Territories.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has asked the people of the nation “not to live in a fool’s paradise” expecting the UN to “wait with garlands” to support Islamabad’s stance regarding the Indian government’s move on Kashmir.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday came out against changing the status of Jammu and Kashmir and backed Security Council resolutions.

One among the UNSC resolutions requires Pakistan to withdraw all its nationals from Kashmir.

The Council’s Resolution 47 adopted on April 21, 1948, said Pakistan should withdraw its nationals from Kashmir before a plebiscite can be held.

Pakistan, however, continues to occupy a significant part of Kashmir making a plebiscite impossible.

The Secretary-General, according to a report in IANS, also recalled the 1972 Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan, which states that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir is to be settled by peaceful means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.