FM informs UN chief about Pakistan’s legal case on Kashmir issue

NEW YORK (92 News) – Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday informed the UN chief and the UN Security Council (UNSC) president outlining Pakistan’s legal case on the Kashmir issue. The foreign minister addressed a letter with comprehensive factsheet to the UN secretary general and the UNSC president outlining Pakistan’s legal case on the Jammu & Kashmir issue. According to a Foreign Office, the letter, along with a detailed factsheet and comprehensive annexures, highlights the illegal, unilateral, coercive Indian actions of August 5, 2019, which aim at bringing about a demographic change in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K), to change the Muslim majority of the state to a minority. The letter also states a view to preempt the UN administered plebiscite envisaged under numerous UNSC to ascertain the wishes of the Kashmiris to join Pakistan or India. “The foreign minister’s letter not only builds on Pakistan’s efforts to sensitize the international community about the continuing Indian atrocities in the IOJ&K, but also presents Pakistan’s comprehensive position on the Jammu & Kashmir dispute, including the relevant UNSC, bilateral agreements and relevant letters to the UN in a sequential manner, laying out the international law and Pakistan’s legal case on Jammu and Kashmir dispute.” FM Qureshi emphasizes that not only the Indian actions are in stark violation of its international commitments, but they also contravene the numerous bilateral commitments, including the Simla Agreement, Lahore Declaration (1999), Islamabad Declaration (2004), Joint Statement of the National Security Advisers & Foreign Secretaries of both countries (December 2015) and Pakistan – India Joint Statement (December 2015), which clearly accept the disputed status of IOJ&K and reaffirm the commitment of peaceful resolution of the same. In line with the prime minister’s commitment to the Kashmiris, the foreign minister’s letter is part of Pakistan’s ongoing diplomatic efforts to sensitize the international community to the plight of innocent Kashmiris, incarcerated for more than seven weeks now and bearing the brunt of Indian atrocities for the last seven decades. Indian aggression and hegemonic actions in the IOJ&K are a threat to regional peace and stability, and hold hostage peace and development on South Asia. Pakistan will continue to extend political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri struggle for the realization of the legitimate right of self-determination, enshrined in numerous UN Security Council resolutions for an expedited resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute, pending resolution for more than seven decades.