President, PM stress Kashmir issue resolution for lasting peace

We urge international community to urgently call upon India to halt its widespread human rights violations in IIOJK

ISLAMABAD:

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have said a just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is essential for achieving lasting peace in South Asia.

On the Right to Self-Determination Day, both the leaders reaffirmed Pakistan's unwavering moral, political and diplomatic support for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, urging the international community to play an effective role in ensuring the implementation of United Nations resolutions on the dispute.

In his message, the president noted that on January 5, the people of Pakistan stood in solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir to commemorate the adoption of a 1949 UN resolution that recognised the disputed status of the territory and affirmed the Kashmiri people's right to determine their future through a free and impartial plebiscite.

He observed that more than seven decades later, the commitment made by the United Nations remained unfulfilled, adding that the passage of time had neither weakened the validity of UN resolutions nor diminished the legitimacy of the Kashmiri people's demand for self-determination.

Separately, the prime minister said the world must recognise that a just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was the only way to achieve durable peace in South Asia.

"We urge the international community to urgently call upon India to halt its widespread human rights violations in IIOJK, reverse its unilateral and illegal actions of 5 August 2019, repeal the draconian laws and give the right to self-determination to the Kashmiri people, as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council resolutions" the premier said.

"Pakistan will continue to extend its unwavering moral, political, and diplomatic support to your cause, and will continue to serve as your voice at every available platform," he added.