There is no redder rag to the New Delhi bull than the United Nations when its focuses on Jammu and Kashmir. That the Congress party should make common cause with the Modi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party in flaying a report on J&K by the UN Human Rights Commission is an index of just how irksome the Indian establishment finds any external meddling in Kashmiri affairs.

Not only were the two original UN resolutions rejected, after the1971 war India insists the issue is a bilateral one, cites the Shimla Agreement in support of that view, does not recognise the UN Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan, has cold-shouldered its personnel but stopped short of asking them to shut down offices in New Delhi, Srinagar etc.

However, there appears a special brand of animosity for the world body’s Human Rights Watchdog as headed by Zaid Ra’ad al-Hussein. Not surprisingly, the Commission’s first-ever report on the J&K situation has caused the MEA to mount a scathing attack, for which supporting-fire came from the Congress as well as the BJP.

At least they stand firm that the entire state of J&K is an integral part of India, and are forceful when telling the UN and others to “lay off”. That the report seemed to accord a separate status to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir only exacerbated the anger. The normally diplomatic official spokesman slammed and rejected the report as “fallacious, tendentious and motivated”, adding that “it is overly prejudicial and seeks to build a false narrative”, insisting that it violated “India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The Congress flayed the report as a “prejudiced attempt” by vested interests to hurt India’s national interests, and observed that it had ignored ground realities such as Pakistani-sponsored militancy. “The Congress party supports the government’s stand in dismissing the report”, the party’s spokesman said. The BJP contended that the UN was biased, lacked homework. Obviously Pakistan welcomed the report, while Kashmiri separatists declared it was “long overdue”. Just what form international opinion will take, and further moves could unfold in the coming days.

While there is considerable merit in the consensus stand that New Delhi has taken, it would be myopic not to note increasing concerns at home and abroad over the impasse in Kashmir, of which alleged violations of human rights is only one small part. Have not local demands been made to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and parallel legislations, prohibit the use of pellet-guns etc?

Successive governments have failed to effect any breakthrough leading towards negotiated conflict settlement even though it is well recognised that there is no military solution. The world is wary, India and Pakistan are nuclear-weapon states. If Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump can turn around a situation in which a few months back they claimed to have their fingers on the nuclear button why not New Delhi, Islamabad and sections of Srinagar.