Pakistan calls India to reverse illegal August 5 actions, resolve Kashmir dispute under UN resolutions
Islamabad: Pakistan has condemned India’s systemic efforts to suppress the voices of people in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), urging New Delhi to reverse its illegal actions of August 5, 2019 and create an environment conducive to peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi made the remarks during the weekly press briefing in Islamabad.
Rejecting India’s claims of development in IIOJK, he said such narratives could never substitute for the rights of the Kashmiri people. “The reality is that a prolonged and heavy military presence, coupled with draconian laws, continues to facilitate demographic change aimed at altering the territory’s Muslim majority character.”
Responding to a question about the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ remarks on the ongoing polls in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Andrabi categorically rejected what he described as India’s baseless and politically motivated statements.
“It is unsurprising that India has chosen to issue such remarks on the eve of the 7th anniversary of its illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, through which it seeks to alter the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said, adding that actions violated the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, international law, and India’s international commitments.
Tahir Andrabi maintained that India, while continuing to deny fundamental political rights and democratic freedom in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, had neither the standing nor the moral authority to comment on the democratic process in AJK.
He stressed that misinformation and propaganda by India could not change the status of occupied Kashmir, which remained a disputed territory. “Its final disposition is to be determined in accordance with relevant UNSC resolutions as well as the freely expressed will of the Kashmiri people and through a UN-administered plebiscite,” he said.
Tahir Andrabi said the Indian MEA’s statements were aimed at deflecting international attention away from India’s continuing violation of human rights and humanitarian law and its persistent failure to fulfill international obligations in IIOJK.
Reaffirming Pakistan’s unwavering support for the Kashmiri people’s just struggle, he urged India to reverse its illegal and unilateral measures of August 5, 2019, end its human rights violations and engage in the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
