Pakistan urges UN to implement Kashmir resolutions

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Pakistan Thursday called the international community, especially the United Nations, to live up to their promises and take measures as enshrined in the UNSC resolutions, specially the one on January 5 in 1949, when the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) unanimously adopted a resolution espousing the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations.

“It must also call for an immediate cessation of human rights abuses and a reversal of measures by India to change the demography enabling the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise the right of self-determination structure of IIOJK,” said Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari .

He pointed to this very important day in Pakistan’s calendar when the nation renews its support for the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

“The right to self-determination is a cardinal principle of international law that is upheld by international human rights instruments. It has been reaffirmed by UN General Assembly in its annual resolution on self-determination,” said the foreign minister who has been raising his voice for the people of Kashmir at every international forum since he took office.

For Pakistan, it was a major diplomatic win last October in Germany when for the first time a European foreign minister called for the United Nations’ role to solve the Kashmir issue.

This day, said the foreign minister, reminds the international community, especially the United Nations, of the imperative of honoring its commitment towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “The last 75 years of India’s occupation of IIOJK is a sad story of repression of the Kashmiri people. India has unleashed a reign of terror in IIOJK, and denied these oppressed people the right to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and lead a life of dignity. Since it’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, India is engineering demographic and political changes in IIOJK to convert Kashmiris into a disempowered minority in their own land,” he added.

Pakistan remains determined to play its role to support the right to self-determination of Kashmiris through a free and impartial plebiscite in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions. Its strong and steadfast moral, political and diplomatic support for the Kashmiri people will continue till the realisation of this inalienable right.

Later, the Foreign Office spokeswomen also raised the issue saying the obsession of a country, which had a grandiose vision about itself and its place in the world, with Pakistan was unfathomable and absurd.

“For the last several years, India has been engaged in a malicious campaign to mislead the international community through a fictitious narrative of victimhood and vile anti-Pakistan propaganda. India’s continued anti-Pakistan diatribe cannot hide its brazen involvement in fomenting terrorism on Pakistan’s soil; nor can it conceal the reality of state-sponsored terrorism in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Instead of pointing fingers at others, India should itself end its involvement in terrorism, subversion and espionage against Pakistan,” she said.

Meanwhile, at the weekly media briefing, the spokeswoman appeared lukewarm to news coming from Kabul that the Daesh militants involved in the attack on Pakistan’s Embassy in Kabul had been killed and this had not changed Pakistan’s position regarding its Charge’ d’affaires.

“We have seen the reports and are trying to verify them. We will share our position once we have verified this information. Pakistan’s Charge’ d’ Affaires is here for consultations and he will go back when these consultations are complete.”

She reaffirmed that Pakistan was both determined and capable of countering any threats to its peace and security and would continue to be engaged with Afghanistan to discuss all matters of mutual concern, including safety and security along the border.

To a query on the visit of Army Chief General Asim Munir to Saudi Arabia and the issues which would be discussed, the spokeswoman responded, “First, let me say that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have close fraternal relations, rooted in history and common faith. We share similarity of views on a range of regional and international issues. Our relations are multi-dimensional that include cooperation in the defence domain. The visit of Chief of Army Staff is in the context of promoting Pakistan-Saudi relations and defense ties.”

Responding to a question about Pakistani prisoners from the 1965 and 1971 wars in the Indian prisons to whom Pakistan had demanded consular access, the Spokeswoman said, “There is a list of missing defence officials. Pakistan has shared the list with India and asked for information and consular access to these individuals. We believe that the issue of 1965 and 1971 prisoners needs to be resolved at the earliest. I will not go into the specific names because I think it is not the right time for us to share these details.”

Meanwhile, some Afghan journalists continuously reported a fake news on Thursday that Pakistan’s fighter jets had pounded the suspected hideouts of TTP militants in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces; however, both security authorities on both sides denied their claim. The journalists even shared an old photo of smoke pouring out of a mountain, claiming that it was the place that was targeted by the Pakistani jets.

The fake news was also widely shared in WhatsApp groups of Afghan journalists, claiming that several Pakistani militants were killed in the airstrikes.

Interestingly, the Pakistani security officials as well as TTP militants in Afghanistan denied reports of airstrikes. 

Meanwhile, one Afghan soldier died and a Pakistani official sustained minor injuries in what the officials called “accidental firing” at the Torkham border on Thursday.