Masood calls for diplomacy to resolve Kashmir issue

Calling for a resolution of the longstanding Kashmir dispute, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan has said that the current state of affairs in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) is abysmal.

“There are human rights violations. There are killings. There is torture. The people are being persecuted. There is no freedom of expression at all. People are in a mass prison,” he said.

On the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day, Ambassador Khan during his interview with Newsweek, a leading US magazine with millions of subscribers across the globe, said that there were no civil liberties or fundamental freedoms in IIOJK.

People who raised their voices ended up in jails or were eliminated, he said, adding that “the entire territory is being ruled by fear and intimidation”.

To a question regarding Pakistan’s willingness to talk, Khan said that Pakistan and Kashmiris were always ready to talk. He, however, reiterated that for any meaningful and result-oriented talk, India must hold in abeyance its illegal and unilateral actions that were taken in August 2019 in the occupied territory.

“India must discard its condescension. Its attitude is dismissive. This does not help. You have to respect your neighbors,” said Ambassador Khan.

This, he said, was not what only the Pakistanis or the people in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) or the IIOJK were saying.

“This is what is being said increasingly by the Indian politicians, leaders and also activists because they think that a historic wrong is being committed and it must be corrected,” Khan said.

The ambassador said that the two sides must demonstrate statesmanship and move towards a ‘Brave New World’.

“Brave New World – where we work for connectivity; we work for peace and security and prosperity for all the South Asians. And that is possible if we address outstanding issues,” he said.

“What is diplomacy for if it does not invest time and energy for resolving such hot issues which affect the destiny of millions of people,” the ambassador said.

He regretted that there was very little focus from the international community on the issue of Kashmir or the people owing to preoccupation with Ukraine, Asia Pacific region or the geopolitics of the United States, China and Russia.

“Kashmir or even South Asia, as a whole, may be a blind spot of the international community and this makes our region accident prone,” he cautioned.

“There can be accidents; there could be miscalculation and the sole point is Kashmir,” he warned.

Asked as to why the major powers were not discussing the issue of Kashmir, the ambassador opined that India’s growing relations with western countries, especially the economic interests, might be the reason for the international community turning a blind eye to the festering issue in the neighbourhood of three nuclear powers.

Highlighting the risks involved in the current situation, the envoy termed continued human rights violations and total disenfranchisement of the Kashmiris as the biggest risk. The risk of an unintended or accidental war and escalation was also there, he continued.

“Rights of Kashmiris should be protected under international law,” he said.