ASEAN MPs back Pakistan on Kashmir issue

Parliamentarians say ASEAN Kashmir Advocacy Group being established to highlight dispute

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentarians from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have termed the Kashmir dispute a global issue and have assured to raise the predicament of the Kashmiri people at the international and regional forums till its resolution.

During a meeting with National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, the parliamentarian delegation, led by Dato Azmi Abdul Hamid, President of Majlis Perundingan Islam, Malaysia (MAPIM), condemned Indian oppression against the innocent Kashmiris and usurping their human rights.
The delegation, comprising members of the parliaments of Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Singapore, is currently visiting Pakistan to get insight of the Kashmir issue.
Qaiser apprised the delegation of the prevailing situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir and said that the Kashmiri people were subjected to the worst lockdown in global history, which deprived them of their fundamental rights.

“The 93-days long lockdown has turned the valley into a jail, aggravating their miseries in the wake of communication blockade and non-supply of food items and medicines,” he said, according to a statement issued here.

“Thousands of youth have been subjected to abduction, torture and custodial killings, besides indiscriminate use of weapons against innocent women and children,” he added. He asked the parliamentarians to highlight the Kashmir issue in its true perspective in their countries.

The speaker stressed the need for parliaments of the Asean countries to put diplomatic pressure on India to resolve the Kashmir dispute as per its international commitments and aspiration of the people of the region.

Dato Hamid said that Asean nations strongly supported the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris which had been constantly been denied by India. He said that the manner, India was propagating the Kashmir issue was a sheer defiance of its international commitments.
He informed the speaker that an Asean Kashmir Advocacy Group was being established to highlight the issue in its true perspective. He condemned the Indian forces for obstructing Kashmiris from performing their religious obligations.

He said that the delegation will visit Azad Kashmir and the Line of Control (LoC) to express solidarity with Kashmiri people. He added that he along with his other fellow parliamentarians would also meet speakers of Asean countries and apprise them of the Kashmir issue.

Earlier, both sides expressed their satisfaction on the existing bilateral diplomatic and trade relations. They underscored the need for further enhancing cooperation between the region in diverse sectors.

The speaker said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a game changer for the region by enhancing inter-regional connectivity that could extend its benefits to the ASEAN region also.

Hamid said that Pakistan was an important country of the region and its efforts for peace and development were commendable. He said that Asean area, with a 600 million population could become a huge trading partner of Pakistan.