UNSC urged to end IOK communication blackout amid COVID-19 outbreak

Pakistan calls for unfettered access to medical supplies in the region in wake of outbreak

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has approached the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), urging the world body to play its role in the lifting of communication and other blockades in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

The development came after India reported the first death from the novel coronavirus in the disputed Himalayan region.

Islamabad and human rights organisations are expressing concerns that continued communication blackout in IOJ&K is a hindrance to get the actual statistics of coronavirus infected people.

A foreign office statement said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi wrote a letter to the president of UNSC, drawing his attention towards the current situation in the occupied valley.

“Pakistan has been calling for immediate lifting of communication restrictions and unfettered access to medical and other essential supplies in IOJ&K in the wake of outbreak of coronavirus in the occupied territory,” the statement said.

“Similar voices have been raised by human rights organisations and the civil society, particularly after the confirmed cases and a death in IOJ&K due to the virus,” the FM wrote to the UNSC chief.

Also, Qureshi in the letter drew the UNSC attention towards the developments in IOJ&K as well as “belligerent Indian rhetoric and aggressive actions” on the ground.

“The Foreign Minister has been regularly updating the UNSC President and the UNSG on the Indian actions in IOJ&K since 5 [of] August 2019, posing threat to peace and security in South Asia,” the statement said.

In his recent letter, transmitted on March 9, the FM inter alia rejected India’s false narrative of “normalcy” in IOJ&K; drew attention to the “reprehensible remarks” of the Indian chief of defence staff about “deradicalisation” camps for Kashmiri youth; highlighted intensified ceasefire violations by the Indian forces on Line of Control (LoC) since December 12, 2019; and stressed the possibility of India staging a ‘false flag’ operation to divert attention from the grave human rights and humanitarian situation in IOJ&K.

Furthermore, Qureshi had highlighted “irresponsible statements” made by the Indian leadership, including by the Indian prime minister, threatening the use of force against Pakistan.

The FM, particularly, highlighted India’s machinations seeking to change the demographic structure of IOJ&K. In this regard, he mentioned about forcible confiscation of properties of Kashmiris and allocation of over 6,000 acres of land to non-Kashmiris that is a clear violation of international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention.

FM Qureshi also underlined that the targeted killings of Muslims in New Delhi in February 2020 were “directly attributable to the majoritarian mindset and supremacist and divisive Hindutva ideology”.

In his letter, he made clear that durable peace and stability in South Asia would remain contingent upon a just and lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. As such, he underlined, that the Security Council must remain seized of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and play its role in enabling the people to exercise their right to self-determination as promised to them under the relevant UNSC resolutions.