Qureshi mends fences with opposition after calls for ‘diplomatic emergency’ on Kashmir

PML-N, PPP lawmakers say an emergency OIC summit should be convened to highlight the matter

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Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has invited the opposition parties to come forward and give their input, assuring that every positive suggestion will be entertained by the government to highlight the Kashmir issue at the international level.

Responding to points raised by the members of opposition benches in the National Assembly on Wednesday, he said the entire nation is united over Kashmir issue and there is no question of any weakness in this regard.

The assurance comes after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNAs called for declaring a “diplomatic emergency” to sensitise the international community over human rights violations being committed by the Indian forces in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

They said an emergency summit of the OIC should also be convened over the issue.

‘Nation stands with people of Kashmir’

The foreign minister said the Kashmir issue has been successfully internationalised for the first time since 1965 due to effective and prompt diplomacy of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. “This issue has been raised and discussed in the US Congress, EU parliament, UN Security Council, OIC, and parliaments of various other countries,” he added.

Qureshi said the human rights organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also supported Pakistan’s stance that grave human rights violations are being committed by India in the occupied territory.

“Heads of states, governments, and foreign ministers of over 70 countries have been contacted to sensitise the world community in highlighting the Kashmir issue,” he maintained.

“We have tried to send the voice and concerns of people of Pakistan to their Kashmiri brethren, who are living under constant siege for over 120 days, through radio waves across the Line of Control (LoC),” said the minister.

Qureshi said over 1,100 protest demonstrations have been reported during relaxation of curfew imposed by the occupying forces in the valley. “India is afraid of Kashmiris’ reaction to its illegal acts of annexing Kashmir on August 5,” he added.