'No chance of trade with India'

Mushahid Hussain Syed says New Delhi is becoming isolated

MUZAFFARABAD:

Former information minister and senator Mushahid Hussain Syed on Monday said that there is no chance of resuming trade with India. He was speaking as a keynote speaker at a symposium titled Kashmir Struggles Under Siege held to discuss the current situation of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

"No trade with India as New Delhi is facing isolation across the globe. In South Asia, only Bhutan is with India and the future of China and Pakistan is bright in the region. Modi and India is now in the past," the former senator said.

Syed further stated that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, nuclear programme and Palestine issue are main pillars of Pakistan's foreign policy and there is no change from the government on these three key areas.

Prime Minister AJK Chaudhry Anwarul Haq said that Kashmiris' ongoing liberation struggle for the right to self-determination would continue till the people of the region achieve their freedom.

"India cannot keep Kashmiris hostage for too long. Sooner or later, New Delhi will have to resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UNSC resolutions", the premier said.

Referring to the worsening political and human rights situation in the occupied Kashmir, the PM said the human rights situation in IIOJK has worsened after August 5 , 2019. "Indian troops deployed in the region have been involved in war crimes since 1989. India continues to violate UN Security Council resolutions that guarantee the right to self-determination to the people of Kashmir.

He said that demographic changes in Occupied Kashmir pose a serious existential threat to the people who, he said, were being turned into a minority.

Terming it as a conspiracy against the Kashmiri people, Haq added that the international community must take notice of the matter. Lauding the supreme sacrifices rendered by the Kashmiri nation, the PM Haq expressed hope that the day would not be far when the people of Occupied Kashmir achieve their goal for which they offered matchless sacrifices.

Paying tributes to Kashmiri martyrs, the PM continued that Kashmiris would uphold the mission of Syed Ali Geelani and other martyrs of Kashmir who sacrificed lives for the noble cause. The prime minister said that Kashmiris had already decided to join Pakistan by passing the resolution on July 19, 1947.

The symposium was attended and addressed by former federal minister Qamarul Zaman Kaira who said economically and politically stable Pakistan is vital for Kashmir freedom struggle.

Convener All Parties Hurriyat Conference APHC AJK Chapter Ghulam Muhammad Safi said that the presence of Indian troops on the Siachen glacier is a threat to the ecological system of the region, and the glacier itself is fast melting due to the huge and unnecessary human interference.