ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has called upon United Nations Security Council (UNSC) President and the UN Secretary General to take note of the repression in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
In a letter addressed to the top UN offices, the foreign minister expressed Pakistan’s grave concern on reports indicating that India may be contemplating the imposition of further illegal and unilateral measures, including division, bifurcation and additional demographic changes in the occupied territory.
The foreign minister’s letter was handed over to the President of the Security Council by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York.
FM Qureshi also urged the Security Council to call upon India to end its campaign of repression in IIOJK and reverse all its illegal actions, including those initiated on and after 5 August 2019, and to cease and desist from imposing any additional unilateral changes in the occupied territory.
In his letter, the foreign minister drew attention to India’s continued military siege of IIOJK – continued for over 22 months, to suppress the Kashmiris’ legitimate demands through a massive campaign of repression including gross and systematic violations of human rights.
He recalled Indian occupation forces had killed, tortured, arbitrarily arrested and detained hundreds of Kashmiris and put almost the entire Kashmiri leadership behind bars.
He highlighted India’s design to undermine the exercise of the inalienable right to self-determination of Kashmiri by changing the demographic structure of IIOJK, including issuance of fake domicile certificates.
While stressing that the people of IIOJK had vociferously rejected the illegal measures imposed by India, the foreign minister called upon the Security Council to fulfill its responsibility to ensure full implementation of its resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
The letter also affirmed that Pakistan desires peaceful relations with all its neighbours, including India for durable peace and stability in South Asia.
He emphasized that the onus was on India to create an enabling environment for result-oriented engagement with Pakistan.
