Kashmir fit case for mediation, Qureshi tells world leaders

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met his Bahraini counterpart Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and discussed ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries in bilateral trade.

In a meeting held on the sidelines of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Qureshi apprised Foreign Minister Khalid about the deteriorating human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K).

Qureshi underlined the need for an immediate end to the ongoing curfew and lockdown in the occupied territory. He also highlighted the potential risks to regional peace and security if preventive actions were not taken to ameliorate the situation.

The Foreign Minister of Bahrain said the leadership of his country Bahrain looked forward to an early visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the country.

Qureshi has said that Kashmir dispute had festered for 70 years despite several UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral mechanism had not yielded any result.

In his address at the 10th ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends of Mediation in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly late Thursday, the foreign minister while underscoring the salience and significance of mediation in the contemporary context noted that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute qualified as a "fit case for mediation".

The Foreign Minister recalled several options outlined in the UN Charter for resolution of disputes and conflicts and called for holding states accountable which had stone walled mediation efforts. The Group of Friends of Mediation comprises 51 member states and is co-chaired by Turkey and Finland.

The Group aims at promoting mediation as a mechanism for settlement of disputes.

Qureshi has also called upon the members of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to fulfill their primary responsibility of maintenance of international peace and security.

Foreign Minister Qureshi expressed these views in a meeting with United Kingdom’s Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations Lord Tariq Ahmad, on the margins of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York late Thursday.

Expressing concern at the deteriorating human rights situation in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K), the Foreign Minister said international outcry and outrage against the Indian atrocities continued to grow stronger with each passing day. He mentioned that dozens of protests had been held across the world including in the UK against Indian atrocities.

He said the meeting of the UNSC on the situation in Jammu & Kashmir not only reaffirmed the disputed nature of the territory but also signified that the Council was cognizant of the evolving situation and the potential risks to regional peace and security.

The Foreign Minister welcomed the efforts of the British parliamentarians as well as Pakistani and Kashmiri diaspora in highlighting the gross violations of human rights in IOJ&K.

Other issues of regional and international importance also came under discussion during the meeting.

Separately, Qureshi has said that relations between Pakistan and the United States were improving and he was hopeful progress could be made on critical regional issues.