Pakistan backs Kashmir on Istehsal Day

ISLAMABAD:

The country's civil and military leadership on Wednesday reiterated its support for the people of the IIOJK on Youm-e-Istehsal, saying India's actions on August 5, 2019, to revoke the region's special autonomy had not altered its disputed status and urging a settlement in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions.

In a statement, President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan observed Youm-e-Istehsal Kashmir to reaffirm its "unwavering solidarity" with the people of IIOJK and to pay tribute to their "courage, resilience and commitment" to what he described as their struggle for self-determination.

He said India's actions of August 5, 2019 "cannot change the legal status of the dispute, nor can they weaken the resolve of the Kashmiri people", adding that millions had spent the past seven years living under severe restrictions affecting every aspect of daily life.

PM Shehbaz Sharif, in his message, said Pakistan observed the day to remind the world of the "grave consequences" of India's "illegal and unilateral actions" of August 5, 2019, which he said sought to alter the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir "in flagrant violation of international law and the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council".

He said that seven years later the measures had "neither changed the legal status of IIOJK nor diminished the legitimate aspiration of its people", saying instead that they had "deepened repression, undermined fundamental freedom, and accelerated attempts to alter the demographic composition of the occupied territory".

In a statement, the ISPR said Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Field Marshal Asim Munir along with the chiefs of the navy and air force, reaffirmed their "unwavering solidarity with the resilient and courageous people" of IIOJK.

The military said it remained steadfast in its support for "the legitimate struggle of Kashmiri people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in international law and the relevant UNSC resolutions."

It described the "continued illegal occupation" of IIOJK as being marked by a military siege, "rampant human rights violations" and attempts to alter the demographic composition of the territory, warning that such actions, coupled with "provocative rhetoric and belligerent posturing", would only "exacerbate regional instability and perpetuate human suffering".

The ISPR said it was "explicitly evident" that lasting peace and stability in South Asia remained "intrinsically linked to the just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute" in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Paying tribute to those martyred in the disputed region, the armed forces said the people and military of Pakistan would continue to "stand shoulder to shoulder with the Kashmiri people in their just and rightful struggle for freedom".