Position Paper

Country: Brazil Committee: United Nations Security Council (UNSC)

Topic Area: Seeking a Permanent Resolution to the Kashmir Issue

On the day, 14th August, 1947, the huge chunk of land known as India collapsed and formed two states
(initially), these were to be known as Pakistan and India, but this decision was in no way a peaceful one
or made to be one, instead, it was an ideological state and because of this, already there was enmity
between the two countries. One of the main causes for this was the fact that when determining the
position of the princely states and which country they would go to, either the decision of the ruler would
be taken into account or the percentage of Muslims and Hindus within the area. This became a problem
in several areas but the most prominent and still on-going one was the Kashmir issue. It basically came
into effect when Hari Singh, the Hindu ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, tried to stay independent but due to
insurgencies from the north, contacted India for help who only agreed to do so if Kashmir became a part
of India. Pakistan, claiming this accession was illegal, also came into the equation and with this, a war
started between the two countries on the Kashmiri front. India brought this matter to the UNSC who
concluded that the final solution should be a plebiscite. The situation once more came to a boil in 1965
with another war happening between the rivals, and throughout the next 50 years the situation was not
solved and due to rivalry only increasing (seen in two more wars), it seems unlikely that the two
countries would reach a mutual understanding over the situation without the UN interfering.

When it comes to Brazil’s stance on the issue, it can be positively said that due to Brazil being a country
with foreign policies of non-intervention, international co-operation and peaceful settlement of
conflicts, it will not interfere with any serious measures. Also, due to Brazil being a vastly different
region than Asia, both culturally and otherwise, it would be unwise to say Brazil will give any specific
priority to the matter. One factor that could potentially catch the bias of Brazil would be the G4 alliance
which was formed between Japan, Brazil, Germany and India to support each other’s demands of
becoming a permanent member of the UNSC. Brazil in the end, will not really try to take a side and will
support the decision being that it should be left up to the Kashmiris i.e. plebiscite.

Although outdated, in 2011, Brazilian foreign minister Slive Emon said Kashmiris must be given their
birthright to self-determine their fate.

"Kashmiris are the prime party to the conflict. And we believe the United Nations' resolutions
promise a sustainable solution to the Kashmir conflict in line with the wishes of Kashmiri
people."

There is no perfect solution to this problem. A mass plebiscite will force migration of a percentage of the
community to a foreign land, as pointed out by UN representative Owen Dixon so in the end, the most
plausible solution for this problem would be for the UN to force a plebiscite which targets specific
regions in the area so that the problem of refugees does not arise. This way, the Muslims could Jammu
Kashmir could separate and join Pakistan.