Kashmir key plank of Pakistan’s foreign policy: Qureshi

Says bilateral relations will remain strained until dispute reaches its logical end

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan wanted good neighbourly ties with India but bilateral relations will naturally remain strained until Kashmir dispute is taken to its logical end.

Addressing a seminar titled “Kashmir is calling/Kashmir Pukaar Raha Hai” held at National Press Club on Thursday, he said the whole nation was united on the Kashmir issue which was also a main component of Pakistan's foreign policy. He added that Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) is not part of India.

He thanked the Kashmiri leadership for lauding his address at the United Nations General Assembly's recent session. He said the meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Kashmir was also an impressive sitting.

The foreign minister particularly appreciated his counterpart from Turkey and Azerbaijan for categorically supporting the Kashmir cause in the meeting.

He said there was neither any confusion in the stance of Kashmiris nor any moral or legal loophole.  He added that the Indian stance on Kashmir was contrary to the basic concept of the division of the subcontinent which was based on including the Muslim majority population in Pakistan.

Qureshi hoped that the Kashmiris' slogan of 'Kashmir banay ga Pakistan' (Kashmir will become Pakistan) would be realized.   The international community must be made realize the sensitivity of the issue which had begotten three wars between the two nations, he said

Nullifying the Indian stance of dubbing Kashmir issue as a propaganda, the foreign minister questioned as why India had deployed around 0.7 million troops in IOK and enforced special laws there instead of ruling the territory with normal laws.

He asked Indian leadership about the rationale behind the amendment in Article 35A of the constitution if the Kashmiris' stance carried no weight. All of these facts negated the Indian stance and promoted the cause of Kashmiri people, he added.

Qureshi said Kashmir was still on the agenda of the United Nations and the Kashmiris had drawn world's attention to this issue by rendering immense sacrifices. He added Kashmir struggle was now not confined to Srinagar rather it was known across the world.

On the occasion, former prime minister Azad Kashmir Sardar Ateeq Khan said that Qureshi destroyed India’s delegation in UN assembly and made Pakistan proud at the United Nations.

(With Additional input from APP)