Transcript
Round 1 — Opening Plenary
Republic of Indiaopening-statement
Special Representative, India comes to Geneva in good faith, and India comes with clarity. The entire former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Union of India by a lawful Instrument of Accession executed in October 1947. That instrument is not a bargaining chip on this table; it is settled law. India will cede no part of Jammu and Kashmir — not to any state, not to any entity claiming to speak in its name. Independence is not on our agenda, and we will not sit in any format built to place it there. Our headline priorities are three. First, the verifiable dismantlement of the terrorist infrastructure that murdered twenty-six civilians at Pahalgam, and an end to the sanctuary and sponsorship it enjoys. Second, restoration of order sufficient for governance to function through the duly elected Legislative Assembly. Third, humanitarian relief and reconstruction for the displaced, delivered with Indian authority and Indian means. What India will not accept is an external investigation of our sovereign territory. Where accountability is owed, Indian institutions will deliver it. This Conference facilitates; it does not adjudicate.
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Islamic Republic of Pakistanopening-statement
Special Representative, Pakistan comes to Geneva because this Council's own word remains unkept. Resolution 47 promised the people of Jammu and Kashmir a free and impartial plebiscite. Seventy-eight years later, that plebiscite has not been held, and the conditions it required — the withdrawal of Indian troops and an end to violent repression — have never been met. That, and not anything decided unilaterally in New Delhi in 2019, is the law of this dispute. Our headline priorities are three. First, implementation of the 1948 plebiscite on its original terms, after demilitarization, with joint arrangements in the interim. Second, an international investigation into the conduct of Indian security forces — torture, disappearances, killings, and detention without charge under AFSPA. Third, relief and dignified return for nearly a million displaced people, through UN facilitation, unconditioned on anyone's political concessions. Let me be plain about one thing we will not accept: Pakistan will not recognize the Line of Control as an international border. A ceasefire line cannot be converted into a settlement. This dispute is international; it will be settled internationally.
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Jammu and Kashmir Delegationopening-statement
Special Representative, we thank you — and we note the date. For seventy-nine years the future of Jammu and Kashmir has been discussed in rooms our people were not permitted to enter. That ends this morning. We speak for all Kashmiris of the historic princely state — Valley, Jammu, Ladakh, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan; Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh — and we come with three priorities. First, full autonomy and self-governance for our whole territory, with an explicit allocation of powers, international guarantees, and dated timelines. Vague promises have been the instrument of our delay since 1947; this conference will be measured by its calendar, not its communiqués. Second, a UN investigation into military transgressions and human rights violations, administered by neutral international authority — never by the parties accused. Third, the return of nine hundred and fifty thousand displaced people, with access to the camps and safe openings across the Line of Control. And let us be plain about one thing we will not accept: no plebiscite that offers our people only a choice between two masters. Autonomy must be on the ballot. Kashmir is not an item of property to be apportioned. It is a people, and we are here.
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People's Republic of Chinaopening-statement
Special Representative, China congratulates you on your appointment and thanks the Secretary-General for convening us. Our priorities are three. First, stability: de-escalation between India and Pakistan, restraint along the Line of Control, and restoration of the water arrangements that sustain ordinary people. The Line of Control has kept a fragile peace since 1972; it should remain the line of administration, and questions arising along it should be settled by the two neighbours themselves. Second, sovereignty. Chinese sovereignty over Aksai Chin, the Shaksam Valley and southern Tibet is historical and settled. Lines drawn arbitrarily by a departed empire confer no legal title. That sovereignty is not an agenda item, and it will not be traded here. Third, the displaced. Nearly a million people cannot wait for a final settlement. China is prepared to contribute substantial relief funding, subject to assurance that no aid reaches armed groups. What we will not accept is an internationalized human-rights investigation in this region. Human rights are properly addressed by states themselves. Nor can China support any ballot that places independence or autonomy before voters; that is a precedent this chamber should not create.
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Russian Federationopening-statement
Special Representative, Russia thanks the Secretary-General for convening this conference. Moscow comes to Geneva with one priority above all others: terrorism. Pahalgam was not an isolated tragedy but the predictable product of militant infrastructure that has been tolerated, financed and sheltered for decades. Until Islamabad offers significant, verifiable, time-bound commitments to dismantle that infrastructure — with monitoring we can all inspect — the remaining chapters rest on sand. Deliver on that, and Russia's flexibility across this table grows accordingly. Second, sovereignty. Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India in 1948; that accession is embedded in India's constitution. Questions of governance within a sovereign state's borders are matters for that state. The Line of Control has held as the de facto boundary for more than fifty years; where New Delhi and Islamabad can settle territory and water bilaterally, they should. Let me be plain about one thing we will not accept: no international investigative mechanism will be imposed on any sovereign state from this room. Human rights protection is a domestic responsibility. On humanitarian assistance, Russia supports relief to the displaced — screened, so that no aid reaches armed groups.
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United Kingdomopening-statement
Special Representative, the United Kingdom thanks the Secretary-General for convening us, and welcomes in particular the delegation from Jammu and Kashmir, whose presence at this table is unprecedented and, in our judgement, indispensable. We come with three headline priorities. First, de-escalation: the exchanges of May 2025 brought two nuclear-armed states to the edge, and we intend to raise the growth and purpose of both nuclear programmes here. Second, an international investigation into human rights violations, with the United Nations as the natural vehicle — we regard this as the fastest route to lowering tension, and we will oppose forcefully any intransigence upon it. Third, the roughly 950,000 displaced: protection, agreed screening, reopened travel routes and crossing points, and humane repatriation. On terrorism our line is firm and shared with our American colleagues — implicit or explicit state support for militant organisations is unacceptable and corrosive to this process. And let me be plain about what we will not accept: no text that fails to keep full autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir a live option on any ballot.
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United States of Americaopening-statement
Special Representative, the United States thanks the Secretary-General for convening this conference, and welcomes the delegation of Jammu and Kashmir to this table. Our first priority is immediate and durable de-escalation between India and Pakistan. Nine months after the exchanges of May 2025, the region remains one miscalculation from catastrophe. We come to convene, not to dictate. Three headline priorities. First, in Chapter I, we support recognition of the Line of Control as the international border, paired with an invisible border granting every Kashmiri unrestricted access to every part of the former princely state. On the wider territorial claims we remain neutral. Second, in Chapter II, we favor graduated, limited autonomy, priced in verifiable security guarantees. Third, humanitarian relief for 950,000 displaced people cannot wait on the semantics of blame: repatriation, protection, medical care, and reopened routes into the Valley. Let me be plain about what we will not accept. Implicit or explicit state support for militant organizations is disqualifying, and the United States will not join any agreement that leaves human rights violations uninvestigated internationally or that fails to address autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir.
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Round 2 — Bargaining & Coalitions
Republic of Indiaoffer
Special Representative, India has listened. We heard Moscow plainly: until the militant infrastructure is dismantled, verifiably and time-bound, "the remaining chapters rest on sand." India agrees, and notes with appreciation that both Moscow and Beijing affirm human rights protection as a domestic responsibility. To the Jammu and Kashmir Delegation: we heard you name your territory — "Valley, Jammu, Ladakh, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan." You are claiming land Islamabad holds. Reflect on who has actually stood between you and that map. India therefore tables the following, in bilateral session with the Kashmiri delegation alone: if your delegation commits in writing to work within the Indian constitution and to respect the duly elected Legislative Assembly, and removes independence from any ballot, then India will reinstate Article 370, rescind Article 356, review the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, and fund a dated reconstruction and returns programme in the Valley. To Washington and London: India will conduct a thorough domestic investigation and share its findings. No external mechanism enters our territory. To Islamabad: the Line of Control is for our two capitals, bilaterally, without third parties. And India will sit in no room containing both Pakistan and the Kashmiri delegation.
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Islamic Republic of Pakistanoffer
Special Representative. Pakistan heard Washington propose recognition of the Line of Control as an international border, and Beijing call it "the line of administration." We say again: no. That is our red line. Here is our offer. To London and Washington: you have called an international investigation the fastest route to lowering tension. Pakistan will co-sponsor it — if its mandate covers the conduct of security forces in the occupied territory, AFSPA detention, disappearances and the camps. We will not accept a mandate stretched across our own frontier; Moscow's preconditions are not the price of this conference. To New Delhi: withdraw your forces as Resolution 47 requires, and Pakistan will accept demilitarization, joint India–Pakistan interim administration, and a plebiscite under UN authority — on the 1948 terms, accession only. To the Jammu and Kashmir delegation: renounce your claim to speak for Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and we will work with you on camps, crossings and repatriation. Until then you speak for the Valley, not for us. To Moscow and Beijing: an autonomous Kashmir would unsettle the Karakoram corridor and inspire separatists elsewhere. Relief funding we welcome — conditioned on nothing.
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Jammu and Kashmir Delegationoffer
Special Representative, we heard the United Kingdom refuse "any text that fails to keep full autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir a live option on any ballot," and the United States refuse any agreement "that fails to address autonomy." We take both delegations at their word and seek sessions with them first. Now our offer, in three linked conditionals. To China: you called Aksai Chin settled and untradeable. We will press no claim there whatsoever — if you withdraw your objection to autonomy appearing on the ballot and channel your relief funding through a UN-mandated repatriation programme we co-lead. To India and to Pakistan, together, because your positions are two versions of the same subordination: if Article 370 is restored, Article 356 rescinded, and a dated allocation of powers to our Legislative Assembly is registered in this room, then we will accept phased, internationally supervised demilitarization rather than immediate withdrawal, and accept the screening of returnees that four delegations have requested — in exchange for opening the camps and the crossing points to us and to the United Nations. Not for sale: autonomy on the ballot, and an investigation administered by the UN, never by the accused.
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People's Republic of Chinaoffer
Special Representative, China has listened carefully. We note convergence. Russia is right that "human rights protection is a domestic responsibility," and India is right that "this Conference facilitates; it does not adjudicate." Our American colleague says the United States comes "to convene, not to dictate" — we will hold that sentence to its meaning. China therefore tables a concrete package. If this conference records the Line of Control as the continuing line of administration — not, we note to Islamabad, an imposed international border — and if the final text contains no internationalized investigative mechanism and no ballot option of autonomy or independence, then China will commit: first, a substantial dedicated fund for all 950,000 displaced, on both sides of the Line, disbursed through screening arrangements developed jointly with Russia and Pakistan; second, no further Chinese claim on the Shaksam Valley administered by Islamabad; third, verifiable de-escalation measures on the Sino-Indian frontier, at India's convenience. We will meet each state delegation bilaterally. To London: forceful opposition does not create jurisdiction. Should this table insist otherwise, China is content with the status quo, which costs us nothing.
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Russian Federationoffer
Special Representative. Russia notes convergence. China said relief must be "subject to assurance that no aid reaches armed groups"; that is Moscow's language too. We therefore propose, with Beijing, a jointly administered screened-relief mechanism for the displaced — funding, medical supplies, camp logistics — operated at New Delhi's request and with agreed vetting against militant infiltration. That is available immediately. Here is our package. If Islamabad tables, in this room, a dated list of militant organisations and facilities to be dismantled, with third-party verification we can inspect, then Russia will support de-escalation measures along the Line of Control, urge restoration of water arrangements, and show flexibility on how territorial questions are framed. If it does not, Russia's support for India's position is unconditional. To London and Washington: the United Kingdom promises to "oppose forcefully any intransigence" on international investigation. Oppose away. Human rights are a domestic responsibility, and Moscow will not consent to an external investigative mechanism, nor to any ballot that places autonomy or independence before voters. Territory and water belong in an India-Pakistan bilateral channel, and Russia will facilitate one.
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United Kingdomoffer
Special Representative, the United Kingdom hears convergence where others hear only deadlock. India names humanitarian relief its third priority. China offers "substantial relief funding, subject to assurance that no aid reaches armed groups." Russia supports relief "screened, so that no aid reaches armed groups." Pakistan asks for return "unconditioned on anyone's political concessions." So let us bank it. The United Kingdom will underwrite a reconstruction and relief fund and accept screening arrangements at every crossing to answer Moscow's and Beijing's concern. If India reopens travel routes and crossing points into the Valley and grants access to the camps, then Britain will fund and staff that screening, and will champion the Line of Control as the international border in the Security Council — with the invisible border Washington describes, so that no Kashmiri family is fenced from its own. Two conditions hold. We will not accept a text that drops full autonomy from the ballot — and we note Article 370 was revoked, not disproved. Nor will we accept accountability by the accused. To Islamabad: verifiable, time-bound counterterrorism commitments, and Britain's support for Kashmiri rights hardens accordingly.
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United States of Americaoffer
Special Representative. Russia told this chamber: "Deliver on that, and Russia's flexibility across this table grows accordingly." The United States intends to test that sentence. Here is our package. If Pakistan tables verifiable, time-bound, internationally monitored dismantlement of militant infrastructure in Round Three, then the United States will support demilitarization sequencing under Resolution 47 and interim joint security arrangements — and we will hold Moscow to the flexibility it just promised. If India reopens travel routes into the Valley and admits monitored access to the camps, then the United States will state, on the record, that we do not support independence on any ballot. Delhi asked for a format not built around independence; we are offering one. Autonomy and accession — that is the choice. If China converts its relief pledge into funding through a screened UN mechanism, we accept screening in full, exactly as Beijing and Moscow asked. Two things we will not trade. Graduated, limited autonomy must be in the text. And the investigation must be international — Indian institutions may co-administer it; they may not replace it. We invite India, Pakistan, China and the Kashmir delegation to a working session alongside plenary, co-chaired with the United Kingdom.
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Round 3 — Closing Plenary
Republic of Indiaclosing-statement
Special Representative, India will be honest rather than diplomatic. Our red lines held. No part of Jammu and Kashmir was ceded here. No external investigative mechanism was agreed. We thank Moscow and Beijing for that — while noting that Beijing's claim to Aksai Chin is not accepted by India and never will be. One line was pressed against us. The Kashmiri delegation addressed India and Pakistan "together"; Washington now invites us to a room containing both Islamabad and that delegation. We decline. India meets each separately, and that has not changed. What we can support is real. The Russian-Chinese screened relief mechanism, operated at India's request. Britain's offer to fund and staff screening. And Washington's bargain: reopened routes and monitored access to the camps, Indian-administered, in exchange for the United States stating on the record that it does not support independence. India accepts that trade. What remains unbridged is equally plain: an internationalized investigation, autonomy on a ballot, and the status of the Line of Control. Our Article 370 offer stands — to the Kashmiris, bilaterally, not registered in this room. Way forward: an India-Pakistan bilateral channel on territory and water; separate bilaterals with Srinagar; a domestic inquiry whose findings we will publish.
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Islamic Republic of Pakistanclosing-statement
Special Representative, honesty serves better than communiqué. Our red line held: Pakistan has recognized nothing. But let this record show four delegations moved toward converting a ceasefire line into a border — London would "champion the Line of Control as the international border," Washington proposed it, Beijing would record it as the line of administration, Moscow would send it to a bilateral channel. Pakistan consents to none of it, and will sign no text that contains it. Second: the 1948 plebiscite found no sponsor here. Not one delegation supported accession as the only ballot. It remains our position and the Council's unfinished business. Third: Moscow and Washington asked Pakistan to table a dated list of facilities for third-party inspection. We will not. A mechanism aimed at Pakistan is not accountability for the Valley. What we can support: China's Shaksam undertaking, the screened relief mechanism if it operates on both sides of the Line, and UN-facilitated repatriation unconditioned on politics. The Kashmiri delegation has not renounced its claim to Azad Kashmir; until it does, our cooperation stops at the camps. We will attend the American and British working session. This file stays with the Security Council.
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Jammu and Kashmir Delegationclosing-statement
Special Representative, honestly then. We can support the American and British construction: autonomy in the text, a ballot that is not accession-only, screening at every crossing in exchange for camp access. We accept the co-chaired working session and will attend India's bilateral. But New Delhi should hear the price: Article 370 restored and Article 356 rescinded is our floor, not our payment. We will not sign a written renunciation of our people's future to purchase what was taken from us illegitimately in 2019. Our red lines held. Autonomy remains on the ballot because London and Washington held it there. Two were pressed against us. Islamabad demanded we renounce Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as the price of speaking about camps and crossings; we decline, and note who fences whom. Beijing and Moscow would strike autonomy from any ballot entirely — that we will never accept, and an accession-only plebiscite we will boycott, substantially and openly. Unbridged: who administers the investigation. Co-administration by the accused is not neutrality. We propose UNMOGIP-supervised sequencing, dated, and reconvening here within twelve months.
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People's Republic of Chinaclosing-statement
Special Representative, China will be candid rather than gracious. What we can support is real and immediate: the screened-relief mechanism Moscow and Beijing proposed jointly, which Britain offers to fund and staff and Washington accepts in full. That much has converged, and China's money is on the table today. We can also support the Line of Control continuing as the line of administration, and an India–Pakistan bilateral channel on territory and water, which Moscow will facilitate. Our red lines held; none was crossed. No delegation moved us on Aksai Chin. To the Kashmiri delegation — we answer you here, in plenary, as our mandate requires: your offer to press no claim in Aksai Chin is noted, but our territory was never yours to concede, and our objection to autonomy on the ballot is not for purchase. Two gaps remain unbridged, and candour requires naming them: international investigation, and autonomy on any ballot. On both, China's answer is no. No consensus text can be written over it, and deadlock costs us nothing. We therefore propose a humanitarian annex adopted separately, now, and the political chapters left where they belong — with the parties.
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Russian Federationclosing-statement
Special Representative, Russia will be candid. Our condition was not met. Islamabad told this chamber that "Moscow's preconditions are not the price of this conference." Then our flexibility is not for sale either. Washington said it would test that sentence — the test failed, and it failed in Islamabad, not in Moscow. Russia's support for India's position is therefore unconditional. What we can support: China's package in full — the screened relief fund on both sides of the Line, disbursed jointly with Beijing and Islamabad; de-escalation on the Sino-Indian frontier; the Line of Control as the continuing line of administration. We accept Britain's offer to fund and staff screening at crossings, provided access is granted by New Delhi and by no one else. Our red lines held. No external investigative mechanism was agreed, and none will be — but London and Washington have not yielded it either, and that gap is unbridged, as is the ballot. On Article 370, Moscow does not second-guess India's own offer; that is New Delhi's sovereignty to spend, not this room's. Way forward: territory and water to a bilateral India-Pakistan channel; a screening annex requiring no political precondition. Nothing more is ripe.
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United Kingdomclosing-statement
Special Representative, honesty serves better than communiqué. Both British red lines held — but neither was accepted. Autonomy remains in no agreed text: Beijing, Moscow and Delhi have each ruled the ballot out, and Islamabad offers accession only. On investigation, India offers a domestic inquiry with shared findings; that is accountability by the accused, and we cannot bank it. Nothing was crossed against us, because nothing was closed. What we can support is real. The screened relief mechanism has five sponsors and no opponent — Britain will fund it, staff the crossings, and underwrite reconstruction, immediately and without political precondition. We endorse Washington's co-chaired working session and will co-chair it. We commend the Kashmiri delegation's phased, internationally supervised demilitarization, and Beijing's frontier de-escalation offer. The unbridged gaps are three: the border, the ballot, and the investigator. Our way forward: bank the humanitarian package now in a signed annex; convene the co-chaired session on sequencing; and Britain will keep the autonomy question and the investigation mandate live on the Security Council's agenda until this room is ready. We are not leaving this file.
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United States of Americaclosing-statement
Special Representative, we were asked for honesty rather than diplomacy. What we support: the screened relief mechanism. China's fund, Russia's vetting, Britain's staffing, India's dated returns programme, Pakistan's insistence that return not be hostage to politics — that is real, and America will help finance and monitor it. Second: India offered to reinstate Article 370, rescind 356 and review AFSPA; the Kashmiri delegation asked for precisely that, with a dated allocation of powers. That is graduated, limited autonomy under another name. Register it, date it, and the United States will back it. Our red lines. The first held — by that route, not by the ballot. The second did not. India, Russia and China each refused an international investigation. New Delhi offers accountability by the accused; we do not accept it, and we will not pretend that gap was bridged. Nor was our working session accepted: Delhi will not sit with Islamabad and Srinagar in one room. Way forward: bank the relief fund, register the Article 370 instrument, keep the investigation alive under UN authority for those who will consent to it, and take nuclear risk and water to a separate track. Washington's channels to both capitals remain open.
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