PM Imran says durable peace in S. Asia contingent upon resolution of Kashmir dispute

‘India’s actions in Kashmir amount to war crimes & crimes against humanity’

Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has said that sustainable peace in South Asia is contingent upon settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the prime minister in his virtual address to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly said that Pakistan desired peace with India as with all its neighbours, however, he maintained that durable and lasting peace in the region is linked to settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in line with the relevant UNSC resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

The prime minister said that India’s actions in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir amounted to war crimes and the crimes against humanity and regretted the world’s selective approach owing to its corporate interests. He said, India is violating the international human rights laws including the 4th Geneva Convention.

He pointed out that geopolitical considerations and corporate interests had compelled the major powers to overlook the transgressions of their affiliated countries. He said, it is unfortunate, very unfortunate, that the world’s approach to violations of human rights lacks even-handedness, and even is selective. Such double standards are the most glaring in the case of India, where this RSS-BJP regime is being allowed to get away with human rights abuses with complete impunity, he added.

Imran Khan said that India had undertaken a series of illegal and unilateral measures in IIOJK since August 5, 2019. He mentioned that India had unleashed a reign of terror by an occupation force of 900,000, jailed senior Kashmiri leadership and imposed a clampdown on media and the internet in the occupied territory.

The prime Minister said the abduction of 13,000 Kashmiri youth, extra-judicial killing of hundreds of innocent Kashmiris in fake encounters and collective punishments by destroying entire neighbourhood and villages was a norm in IIOJK.

“This repression is accompanied by illegal efforts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory and transform it from a Muslim majority into a Muslim minority,” he said.

He said Pakistan has unveiled a detailed dossier on gross and systematic violations of human rights by the Indian forces in the occupied territory.

Imran Khan said Indian actions violate the resolutions of the UN Security Council on Jammu and Kashmir. These resolutions, he said, clearly prescribed that the final disposition of the disputed territory should be decided by its people, through a free and impartial plebiscite held under the UN auspices.

The prime minister maintained that the most recent example of Indian barbarity was the forcible snatching of the mortal remains of the veteran Kashmiri leader, Syed Ali Gilani, from his family, denying him a proper Islamic funeral and burial. “Devoid of any legal or moral sanction, this action was even against the basic norms of human decency,” he added. He called upon the General Assembly to demand that Syed Gilani’s mortal remains be allowed to be buried in the Martyrs’ Graveyard (Eidgah in Srinagar) with the appropriate Islamic rites.

Imran Khan said the onus remained on India to create a conducive environment for meaningful and result-oriented engagement with Pakistan. For this, he said, India must reverse its unilateral and illegal measures instituted since August 5, 2019. He asked New Delhi to stop its oppression and human rights violations against the people of Kashmir and reverse the demographic changes in the occupied territory.

The prime minister also drew the attention of the global community towards India’s massive military buildup with nuclear weapons, saying the situation could erode mutual deterrence with Pakistan. “India’s military build-up, development of advanced nuclear weapons, and acquisition of destabilising conventional capabilities can erode mutual deterrence between the two countries,” he said.

Imran Khan said it was essential to prevent another conflict between Pakistan and India. He recalled that Pakistan reaffirmed the 2003 ceasefire understanding along the Line of Control with a hope that it would lead to a rethink of the strategy in New Delhi.