Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday accused India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of internationalizing the Kashmir issue by taking it to the United Nations. He said the issue should not have gone to the global forum as it was an Indian issue.
Prime Minister Nehru appealed to the United Nations Security Council through a petition filed in January 1948 after the outbreak of the first war between India and Pakistan. Based on this petition, the Security Council established the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan to mediate between the two countries.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Nirmala Sitharaman said, “It (Kashmir issue) is essentially an issue related to India. Congress took the issue to the United Nations. Who took it? Our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru raised this issue. Raised it to the United Nations. Why? Because the British would have given them some suggestion that the issue would not improve, and Prime Minister Nehru took it to the United Nations.”