PM warns war between India-Pak over IoK’s crackdown

NEW YORK: Prime Minister Imran Khan has warned of possible war between India and Pakistan over what he called a brutal Indian crackdown in occupied Kashmir.

Addressing a presser in New York along with foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, the prime minister stated that residents of Indian-occupied Kashmir have been locked down by 900000 soldiers.

The prime minister said, “I have met Kashmiris in New York who have complained that they can’t get in touch with their relatives in occupied Kashmir. Even pro-Indian Kashmiri leaders have been imprisoned, hospitals are not functioning while the youth is being arrested”,

The prime minister further said, “Lockdown of 8 million people is unprecedented. There are 11 Security Council resolutions that characterize Kashmir as a disputed region and promise plebiscite.”

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He added, “We fear that India will change the demography of Kashmir. To change the demography of occupied piece land is against the Geneva Convention and tantamount to war crimes. Once curfew is lifted, Indian forces will carry out the massacre.”

He further added, “Unfortunately, India has been governed by an extremist party which beliefs in ethnic cleaning of Muslims. We tried to amend relations with India but all such efforts were rebuffed. On 5th August, the Indian agenda was unveiled.”

The prime minister urged the world as well as the United Nations to intervene and help address the issue by saying that it was the time for the UN and the world to act.

The conflict between India and Pakistan over occupied Kashmir dates to the late 1940s when they won independence from Britain. Most Kashmiris resent the Indian troop presence. The Indian government has defended the Kashmir changes as freeing the territory from separatism, and his supporters welcomed the move.