ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday welcomed the UN’s reiteration that its position on Indian occupied Kashmir remained unchanged and it continued to see the valley as disputed territory, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO).
“The statement reaffirms that UN position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is “well-established” and has not changed,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in response to the statement by the UN secretary general’s spokesperson.
He said Pakistan appreciated the timeliness of the statement as it coincided with the completion of two years of India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), that were in violation of the UN charter, UNSC resolutions and international law including the Fourth Geneva Convention.
“The statement denies the self-serving remarks by India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations claiming that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India,” he said.
“India would do well to remind itself that Jammu and Kashmir remains an internationally recognised dispute and one of the longest outstanding items on the UNSC’s agenda. It never was and never will be a part of India,” the FO asserted, adding that “regurgitation of false and fabricated claims does not change the reality.”
He also pointed out that numerous UNSC resolutions had established that the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir would be made in accordance with the wishes of the people of the valley, expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite held under UN auspices.
“It [Kashmir] never was and never will be a part of India. Regurgitation of false and fabricated claims does not change the reality,” he said.
He mentioned that numerous United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions had established that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir would be made in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite held under the UN auspices.
“Ultimately, India will have to give in to the will of the Kashmiris and the commitment of international community as enshrined in numerous UNSC Resolutions,” he said.
On August 5, 2019, India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had revoke occupied Kashmir’s special status by repealing Article 370 of the constitution. The move allowed people from the rest of India to have the right to acquire property in occupied Kashmir and settle there permanently.
Earlier on Friday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had written letters to the UNSC and the UN secretary general, drawing their attention to “unlawful steps” being taken by India after the annexation of the disputed region of Kashmir to strengthen its “colonial hold” on the territory.
