Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Wednesday said that India through continued violation of Ceasefire Agreement of 2003 is eroding an important CBM [confidence building measure] between the two countries. Speaking at a press conference along with Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Jammu and Kashmir Syed Fakhar Imam, Qureshi said that India is constantly targeting civilian population.
However, he dispelled the impression that the incidents of ceasefire violations from the Indian side have increased following US President Donald Trump's statement about the mediation between Pakistan and India on Kashmir dispute. "This issue of Kashmir is a major hurdle in the peace and stability of the region. Unfortunately, India is neither ready to hold talks on Kashmir dispute bilaterally nor does it accept the third party mediation," he said, adding that Pakistan's shifting of focus from western border to the eastern border may affect the peace efforts in Afghanistan.
About the US special representative for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad's stopover in Islamabad before leaving for Doha for another round of talks with the Taliban, Qureshi said that he is looking forward for a productive session with the US envoy on the Afghan peace process. He said that Pakistan is facilitating the peace efforts in Afghanistan as a shared responsibility, adding that the process also needs to be given the regional ownership.
Sharing the details of deliberations made during the committee's meeting, Qureshi said that he gave a detailed briefing to the committee on the grave situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the efforts by the Indian government aimed at demographic changes in the disputed territory. He made it clear that any measure aimed at bringing demographic changes in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions will neither be acceptable to Pakistan nor to the people of the Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that the committee recommended to the government to send delegations to important world capitals, especially to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to sensitise the international community over the grave human rights violations and the Indian government's designs of scrapping 35-A in the Indian Constitution.
He said that the committee expressed grave concerns over the Indian government's decision to send additional 10,000 troops to the occupied valley on urgent basis, adding that the move will result in further belligerence of the Indian forces against the defenceless Kashmiri people.
Qureshi said that the committee unanimously reiterated that the entire nation and the Parliament are on the same page on the issue of Kashmir and reassured strong political and diplomatic support to the people of the occupied valley. Responding to a question, the foreign minister said that the Financial Action Task Force (FATP) has acknowledged the concrete steps taken by the government of Pakistan in line with its line of action.
Qureshi also briefed the committee on the recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the United States, adding that during his visit to the US, the Prime Minister exchanged views with President Donald Trump on a wide range of issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
The foreign minister stated that the Prime Minister raised the Kashmir issue effectively and highlighted the massive human rights violations in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He added that Pakistan welcomed President Trump's readiness to mediate in the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
He further emphasised that the last one year had seen a growing momentum in activities focused on drawing international attention to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, particularly with the publication of the successive OHCHR reports in June 2018 and July 2019 which extensively documented the human rights situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that the committee members agreed to continue to highlight ongoing atrocities in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir at every possible international forum. Speaking on the occasion, Fakhar Imam said that there was an interesting reaction in India over President Trump's offer of mediation on Kashmir. He said that there is a need for highlighting the Kashmir issue on international forms.
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