PM urges UNGA to play its role in resolving Kashmir issue

(Karachi) Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the United Nations to play its due role in addressing the grave situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking to President-elect of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir, who called on him in Islamabad on Monday, Imran said the UNGA should ensure that Kashmiris exercise their right to self-determination promised to them in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

The prime minister highlighted the dire human rights and humanitarian situation in the Jammu and Kashmir since August 5 last year.

He also apprised Bozkir about violations of human rights of the Kashmiri people and the attempts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory.

The people of Kashmir have been living under curfew-like conditions for over a year now.

Normal life remains crippled in the occupied valley as military lockdown has cost the territory’s economy more than Rs200 billion over the past two months.

Amid continued military siege, internet and mobile phone services are shut down, public transport is off the roads, and business establishments are shut while schools and offices continue to wear a deserted look.

The lockdown has rendered more than 50,000 workers jobless in the carpet industry alone. There is also a shortage of skilled labour in occupied Kashmir, as some 400,000 migrants have left since India imposed undeclared martial law in occupied Kashmir on August 5.