India is scared of growing economic stability, prosperity in Pakistan: Masood Khan

MIRPUR: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan said India was scared of growing economic stability and prosperity of Pakistan and her objection that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was passing through a disputed territory was unfounded and irrelevant.

He underlined that international conventions do not prohibit economic development and foreign investment in disputed areas.

The AJK President made these remarks during a call on by Laura Schuurman a researcher and writer on Monday.

Masood Khan said CPEC is a part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is a mega project aimed at economic inter-connectivity.

Speaking about India’s objection over the CPEC, he said that India hardly objected to the Karakoram Highway passing through Gilgit-Baltistan but this time around, India feels threatened by China’s growing economic and political influence in the region.

President Masood Khan said that CPEC will revolutionize economic activity in this region by not only connecting Pakistan to China but also establishing access routes to Central Asia; making Pakistan a trade conduit and an economic destination.

He informed that in AJK, 4 major projects under CPEC including two hydropower projects (Kohala and Karot), a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Mirpur and an Expressway connecting the SEZ to the Central CPEC route have been approved which are under different stages of planning and implementation.

President AJK while discussing the situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) said that 700,000 armed forces personnel have been deployed in IOK, making it the highest military concentration of any country in a conflict zone.

These forces, he said, were terrorizing the unarmed Kashmiris by openly murdering innocent protestors, maiming the youth, harassing the Hurriyat leadership and illegally incarcerating the people whose only demand is to exercise their just right to self-determination.

He added that India is using sexual violence as an instrument of war by blatantly dishonoring, molesting and raping Kashmiri womenfolk. “The human right situation in IOK is dismal”, he said.

Even though, in its constitution, India has claimed Kashmir to be its integral part, yet after 70 years of coercive tactics, political machinations and economic blandishment it has failed to win the hearts of Kashmiris and has been unsuccessful in quelling the freedom movement in IOK.

Kashmir being an unfinished agenda of the United Nations obligates the UN to resolve the conflict in amicable, democratic and diplomatic manner according to the UN Security Council’s resolutions.

He added that the UN Secretary General must not wait for India’s concurrence to talks, as it will never agree and instead he must use his good office to mediate and persuade India to the dialogue table.

He said that the situation needs an early resolution, as any escalation between Pakistan and India which are also nuclear powers can jeopardize world peace and security.

He said Pakistan over the past 70 years has kept the issue alive through its diplomatic and political support for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

He said we would continue to raise our voice against the human right violations taking place in IOK.