UK's newly posted envoy to India raises Kashmir issue

(Karachi) Raising the Kashmir issue in his first press briefing after assuming responsibility as the new High Commissioner of United Kingdom, Alex W Ellis said that the British government is concerned about the matter and is keen to get up there and analyze the ground situation, India Today reported.

In his first press interaction in New Delhi, Ellis emphasised on changing global order and finding a just solution to the Kashmir conflict.

The UK envoy also expressed the desire to travel Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. "We are keen to go. I think you know we talked to the government about Kashmir. We are keen to get up there to have a look," he remarked.

Earlier, Pakistan Ambassador at the United Nations Munir Akram reminded the international community that Kashmir is not just a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan, it is mainly about what the people of Kashmir want.

He urged the world body to ensure that the people of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir exercise their right to self-determination.

“The Kashmir dispute is not just a territorial dispute. It is a dispute which involves the people of Kashmir. It is a dispute about the soul of the people of Kashmir,” he said.

He noted that the Kashmir issue is alive again as the UN Security Council had considered it three times since August 2019, when India illegally merged the disputed territory with the union, and the UN Human Rights Council had considered it numerous times.

He said UN special rapporteurs had also highlighted Indian violations of human rights in Kashmir on several occasions, adding that 18 special rapporteurs had jointly spoken out against Indian atrocities in the region and the UN high commissioner for human rights had issued two reports and spoken five times in the Human Rights Council on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.