We urge the international community to urgently call on India to end its widespread human rights violations in IIOJK.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari. Photo: APP/AFP
ISLAMABAD:
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have said that a just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is essential for achieving lasting peace in South Asia.
On Right to Self-Determination Day, both leaders reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, urging the international community to play an effective role in ensuring 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 recognized the disputed status of the territory and affirmed the right of the people of Kashmir to determine their future through a free and impartial plebiscite.
He noted 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 the UN resolutions nor diminished the legitimacy of the Kashmiri people’s demand for self-determination.
Separately, the prime minister said the world must recognize that a just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was the only way to achieve lasting peace in South Asia.
“We urge the international community to urgently call on India to end its widespread human rights violations in IIOJK, reverse its unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, repeal the draconian laws and grant the right to self-determination to the people of Kashmir as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the Prime Minister said.
“Pakistan will continue to extend its unwavering moral, political and diplomatic support to your cause and will continue to be your voice on all available platforms,” he added.
