We call on the international community to urgently call on India to stop its widespread human rights abuses in the 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 to achieving lasting peace in South Asia.
On the day of the right to self-determination, both leaders reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and called on the international community to play an effective role in ensuring the implementation of UN 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 celebrate the passage of a 1949 UN resolution that recognized the disputed status of the territory and affirmed the right of the Kashmiri people to determine their future through a free and impartial referendum.
Noting that more than seven decades later, UN commitments remained unfulfilled, he added that the passage of time had neither weakened the validity of 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 stop its widespread human rights violations in the IIOJK, reverse its unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, repeal the draconian laws and grant the right to self-determination to the Kashmiri people as enshrined in UN Security Council resolutions.”
“Pakistan will continue to extend its unwavering moral, political and diplomatic support to your cause and will continue to serve as your voice on every available platform,” he added.
