Pakistan calls for holding India accountable for war crimes in IOJ&K

Envoy to UN Munir Akram says Covid-19 poses additional challenges to developing countries

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has urged the world community to intervene and hold India accountable for its “grave” breaches of international humanitarian law and war crimes in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking at the 2020 Humanitarian Affairs Segment (HAS), held by the Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc), the economic arms of the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram highlighted the decades of Kashmiri people’s sufferings now compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our efforts to fight Covid-19 and its humanitarian impact must not remain oblivious to challenges posed by the pandemic in situations of protracted conflicts, foreign occupation and alien domination,” Ambassador Akram told Ecosoc.

He also briefed the 54-member council on the measures taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, address its effects, provide relief to the vulnerable people and initiate plans to put Pakistan on the road to economic recovery.

Dealing with the worsening humanitarian situation in Indian occupied Kashmir, the Pakistani envoy said the people, who were already reeling under a 10-months digital and physical lockdown, have been denied adequate access to medical supplies and facilities and high-speed internet.

In the wake of the pandemic, the permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN continued to say, hundreds of Kashmiri political leaders and abducted youth continued to languish in crowded jails across India, making them vulnerable to the virus.

“In blatant violation of international humanitarian law, the Indian government has also denied access to all UN and non-UN humanitarian agencies and civil society organisations,” he said.



“While the world’s attention was riveted on combating the Covid-19 virus,”, he said, “India has taken further steps, almost by stealth, to change the demography of occupied Jammu and Kashmir by promulgating new ‘domicile’ regulations that would enable settlers from all over India to colonise the occupied state in violation of Security Council resolutions and the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

He said that defying the UN secretary general’s global call for ceasefire, India had also intensified its violations of the ceasefire along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary. He pointing out more than 1,000 ceasefire violations since January 1, and targeting of civilians on the Pakistan side of the LoC.

Against the backdrop of Covid pandemic, Ambassador Akram said there were additional challenges for the developing countries, as remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries were expected to shrink by 20% this year, while foreign direct investment was expected to fall by one-third.

In this regard, he said, Prime Minister Imran Khan had launched a “Global Initiative on Debt Relief” which aimed to seek urgent debt relief for low- and middle-income countries. “Developing countries must be supported in overcoming the massive impact of Covid-19 by providing fiscal space and financial relief to manage the unfolding crisis.”

Pakistan, he said, has launched the “Pakistan’s Preparedness and Response Plan” (PPRP), worth $595 million, in a bid to strengthen the country’s capacity in emergency prevention, preparedness, response and build health systems for a period of 9 months from April to December this year.

“We are now reaching out to international partners, relevant UN agencies and donors to reduce the social and financial impact of the pandemic on the most vulnerable people in the country by providing the strongest possible support to the response plan.”