Pakistan to take up IOK at UN fully prepared: Qureshi

Minister informs NA panel about diplomatic efforts for occupied Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday said Pakistan would be fully prepared to raise the issue of occupied Kashmir at the UN General Assembly session next month.

“India has imposed a 24-hour curfew in occupied Kashmir for the last 23 days and blocked communications to hide the facts from the world,” the minister said while briefing the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on the developments in the occupied region.

New Delhi stripped Occupied Jammu and Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status on August 5 and placed heavy restrictions on movement and a communication blackout the in the valley.

“The reports coming in from the disputed territory are alarming and it is necessary to inform the world about the humanitarian crisis there,” he added.

The session of the committee was presided over by its chairman Ehsan Ullah Tiwana.

The minister informed the committee about the meeting of the National Committee on Kashmir and the proposals put forth by its members.

“These proposals will be submitted to the prime minister and the next course of action will be devised after the approval of the cabinet,” he said,

Reaffirming Pakistan's strong commitment to continue political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris, Qureshi said India was trying to change the demographic composition of IOK.

He said the foreign ministry was informing the international community about the situation in occupied Kashmir and written letters to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation secretary general, the United Nations secretary general, the President of the UN Security Council and the UN human rights commissioner.

“Pakistanis and Kashmiris have already rejected these unilateral and illegal steps by New Delhi and many Indian politicians are also raising their voices against them,” he noted.

The minister informed the committee that a delegation of Indian opposition leaders went to Srinagar to review the situation there but it was stopped at the airport and forced to return to New Delhi.

“The UN Security Council holding deliberations on the issue of Kashmir despite India’s attempts to prevent them from taking place is a major diplomatic success for us,” he informed the committee.

“Today, the international media is also reporting about the human rights violations in occupied Kashmir. There are protests taking place in cities across the world including London, New York, Paris and Brussels.”