Kashmir still a burning issue, Turkish President Erdogan at UNGA

ANKARA (Agencies) - In yet another attempt to raise the matter of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Kashmir conflict is still a burning issue. On day two of the high-level UNGA, the Turkish president said, "The Kashmir conflict, which is also key to the stability and peace of South Asia, is still a burning issue." At last year's high-level meeting of the General Assembly, only Erdogan and Mahatir Mohammed, the then-Prime Minister of Malaysia, joined Prime Minister Imran Khan to talk about Kashmir. Last year, weeks after India scrapped Article 370 of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Erdogan had raised the issue of Kashmir at the UNGA 74th session and criticised the international community for failing to pay attention to the Kashmir conflict. This year after Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi raised up the Kashmir issue, Erdogan too criticised the situation in Kashmir.

Kashmir issue should be resolved through dialogue

In a pre-recorded statement, the leader said that it is imperative to solve the issue of Kashmir through dialogue. "We are in favour of solving this issue through dialogue within the framework of the United Nations resolutions, especially in line with the expectations of the people of Kashmir," Erdogan added. In the last one year, Pakistan-ally Turkey has used several platforms to raise the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. However, India, time and again, has told the west-Asian country that Kashmir is an internal matter of India. Last week, India had slammed Pakistan, Turkey and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the 46th session of the Human Rights Council for their remarks on India's internal affairs.