Remarks of British lawmakers clearly states Kashmir is not India's internal issue: Qureshi

(Karachi) Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said the recent statements of British Parliamentarians on deteriorating situation in Indian Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) is a manifestation that Kashmir is not an internal matter of India but an international dispute, Radio Pakistan reported.

In a statement issued on Friday, Qureshi said the remarks of UK lawmakers have exposed the real face of Indian government. He said, "It is endorsement of Pakistan's narrative on Kashmir dispute and a foreign policy success."

Shah Mahmood said the situation in occupied territory is terrible as people are subjected to brutal oppression. "Thousands of innocent people are in jails without any legal trial."

He said international media and independent monitors should be allowed to visit the occupied territory to assess the ground reality.

He expressed hope that a similar voice in favor of Kashmiri people will be raised in the US Congress after the new government under Biden leadership assumes it responsibility next week.

He appealed to parliamentarians from UK, USA and European parliament to visit the occupied territory and analyze the situation there independently.

Earlier, UK Lawmaker Naz Shah said we need international leaders and governments with the will to take action and stop genocide taking place in IIOJK.

She maintained that UN Security Council resolution 47, which provides for the right of a plebiscite for the people of Kashmir, has existed since 1948. "The will to implement still does not. Seventy-four years on, the trajectory for the people of Kashmir is leading to a future far from a right of self-determination and closer to one of non-existence."

Shah also highlighted grave human rights violations and killings of Kashmiri people at the hands of Indian forces, saying in 2019, India unilaterally revoked article 370, removing the special status of Kashmir, outrightly defying the United Nations resolution, setting back previously agreed international resolutions such as the Simla agreement, arresting Kashmiri political leaders, enforcing curfews, implementing a media blackout, and denying internationally agreed principles of human rights for Kashmiri people.