ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday rubbished the Indian minister's misconception regarding the loyalties of Kashmiri people, and challenged him to visit Muzaffarabad or invite him and Prime Minister Imran Khan to occupied Srinagar to check whether Kashmiris stand with Islamabad or New Delhi.
Responding to a statement by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh that people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir will demand "freedom" from Pakistan in future, Qureshi invited Singh to visit Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, to remove his misperception.
"If he [Singh] really wants to know that Kashmiris stand with India [or Pakistan], then I am going to invite him to visit Muzaffarabad to check his claims. Or, otherwise, invite me or Prime Minister Imran Khan to Srinagar to know the will of the Kashmir people," the foreign minister said.
In a separate statement with regard to India's bid for membership of the UN Security Council, Qureshi said that India needs to review its behavior of violating the UN Security Council resolutions and human rights in occupied Kashmir.
He said that Pakistan had a lot of forums and ways to unveil the Indian designs, and it opts from them according to its priorities.
Qureshi said that there is a specific procedure to follow for getting membership of the UN Security Council, adding that the countries desiring to become member of the Security Council lobby for several years and Pakistan is also among them.
Every country has this prerogative by following a long procedure to get membership of the Security Council, he said.
However, Qureshi said that Pakistan will formulate its strategy keeping in view the diplomatic norms.
He said Pakistan and India had been members of the Security Council seven times each.
Talking to the state media, Qureshi strongly criticised the BJP government policies, saying that the Hindutva mindset of Indian government posed a threat to regional peace and security.
He said all the regional countries were concerned over the policies of the BJP government, and regretted that New Delhi had made the SAARC forum dysfunctional.
The foreign minister further regretted that the Indian government had not shown any flexibility in its persecution campaign in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, despite the Covid-19 pandemic and continued to target the innocent population in the so-called search and cordon operations.
Qureshi said that the United Nations endorsed Pakistan's stance on the outstanding Kashmir dispute, adding that he had written several letters to the world body highlighting the atrocities unleashed against the innocent Kashmiri people by the Indian troops.
"Pakistan has always respected the UNSC resolutions but the Indian side has never accorded any respect to them," he said.
He pointed out that reports of the UN Human Rights Commissioner speak volume about the blatant human rights violations being committed in the occupied valley.
The foreign minister also urged the international community to take notice of the continued human rights violations in the occupied valley, and the India's disregard to the Security Council resolutions.
He pointed out that not only in Kashmir, but discriminatory attitude was being meted out to Muslim population throughout India.
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