Pakistan welcomes global mediation on Kashmir dispute, slams ban on books in IIOJK
Islamabad, : Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan has said Pakistan will welcome the United States or any other country’s interest in facilitating a resolution to the Kashmir dispute.
According to Kashmir Media Service, speaking at his weekly press briefing in Islamabad, Shafqat Ali Khan said Pakistan seeks to resolve issues through diplomacy, but the onus lies on India to engage. He confirmed there are currently no contacts between Islamabad and New Delhi beyond routine diplomatic exchanges.
Responding to reports that India may grant statehood to Jammu while treating the occupied Kashmir Valley differently, the spokesperson reaffirmed Pakistan’s stance that the territory remains disputed, with its final status to be decided under relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. He said India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, violated the UN Charter, UN Security Council resolutions, and international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, and that any further steps in this direction would constitute similar breaches.
Condemning the ban on books by renowned authors, including Arundhati Roy and Maulana Abul A’la Maududi, in IIOJK, he said it was yet another example of India’s “draconian and illegal” rule in the territory.
Shafqat Ali Khan also said that India is fanning terrorism inside Pakistan, saying the insurgency in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is emanating from Afghanistan, and urged Kabul to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries. He said a stable Afghanistan is in the best interest of Pakistan.
