Pakistan envoy, UK shadow foreign secretary discuss Kashmir situation

LONDON: High Commissioner Nafees Zakaria held a virtual meeting with British Labour Party politician and UK Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy MP.

They exchanged views on ways and means to further strengthen Pakistan-UK bilateral relations in diverse fields. They also discussed the grave human rights situation in Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IoJ&K).

Both agreed on strengthening linkages between the two countries through active participation of Pakistani diaspora in the UK and exploring new avenues of trade and investment.

They agreed that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute, which must be resolved in accordance with UNSC Resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

The high commissioner expressed concern over the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the wake of Indian illegal action of Aug 5, 2019. He highlighted the sufferings of Kashmiris in the IoJ&K, who remain under Indian siege for over 300 days, with complete communication blockade and denial of access to media and human rights defenders.

The high commissioner invited the MP’s attention to the documented accounts of India’s human rights violations in IOJ&K, including OHCHR’s reports, Amnesty International’s report on mass blinding, Kunan Poshpora mass rape incident of 1991, International People’s Tribunal on Kashmir’s (IPTK) account of unnamed, unmarked mass graves in 2009, warnings of Genocide Watch and various other harrowing accounts of repression, torture, night raids, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, as documented by international media and human rights organisations.

Ms Lisa Nandy expressed her resolve, and that of the Labour Party, in continuing to highlight human rights abuses in IoJ&K with all concerned stakeholders.