Kashmir settlement a prerequisite for durable peace: PM

Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated on Monday that a just settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people remained a prerequisite for durable peace and stability in South Asia.

Talking to Ambassador Yousef Aldoubeay, the Special Envoy of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for Jammu and Kashmir, who called on him here, Imran hailed the resolute support of the Ummah to the just struggle of the Kashmiri people for their inalienable right to self-determination.

Imran highlighted the atrocities being committed by India in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), with over 900,000 troops deployed in the occupied territory making it the most militarised zone in the world.

He underscored that the illegal and unilateral actions of India since August 5, 2019 were aimed at disenfranchising the Kashmiris and altering the demographic structure of IIOJK in order to convert it into a Hindu dominated territory.

“These illegal actions are in clear violation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention,” the prime minister stressed. He also called for provision of humanitarian support and assistance to the people of IIOJK.

The prime minister underscored the urgent need to allow access to the OIC, the United Nations, human rights organisations and the international media to visit IIOJK and conduct independent investigations into the human rights abuses.

Read OIC envoy on Kashmir to visit Pakistan this week

He urged the Islamic world to forge a greater unity against the challenges posed by the extremist political ideologies stoking Islamophobia. He also underlined the imperative of peaceful resolution of international conflicts and longstanding disputes, including Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine.

The OIC’s special envoy, along with OIC Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Tarig Bakhit and other senior officials from the OIC, is visiting Pakistan and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir from 7-12 November 2021 to undertake a first-hand assessment of the situation in the IIOJK.

Earlier on Monday, Ambassador Aldoubeay, along with the OIC delegation met with Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and received an update on the situation in the IIOJK. Ambassador Aldoubeay reiterated OIC’s abiding solidarity and support to the legitimate Kashmiri struggle.

Welcoming the special envoy, the foreign secretary underscored that the visit reaffirmed the OIC’s resolute support to the just struggle of the Kashmiri people for their inalienable right to self-determination.

On the human rights situation in the IIOJK, the foreign secretary stressed that since its illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, India had denied all fundamental rights and freedoms to the Kashmiris, detained the legitimate Kashmiri leadership and killed, maimed and summarily executed and tortured Kashmiris on a mass scale.

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The Covid-19 pandemic had turned the dire situation into a grave humanitarian crisis, the secretary said. He added that the exclusionist policies being pursued by the RSS-BJP dispensation reflected their ideological agenda of establishing a Hindu Rashtra.

The foreign secretary said that subsequent steps taken by India in IIOJK included the issuance of over 4.2 million domiciles to Indian citizens, which were meant to disenfranchise the Kashmiris and to turn the Muslim majority of the IIOJK into a Hindu dominated territory.

“These actions are in clear violation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention,” he said. The Indian actions in IIOJK, he warned, posed a serious threat to regional peace and stability.