Pak will continue to lend its full moral, diplomatic & political support for the Kashmiri people’s struggle to achieve self-determination: Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD, Feb 05 (SABAH): Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan will continue to lend its full moral, diplomatic and political support for the Kashmiri people’s struggle to achieve self-determination.

In his message on the occasion of the Kashmir Solidarity Day observed on Wednesday, Ishaq Dar said that every year, the ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ is observed to express Pakistan’s unwavering support to the Kashmiri people’s just struggle for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.

Ishaq Dar said that the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions provide that the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people, expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. However, over the last seventy-seven years, India has made consistent efforts to suppress the wishes of the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), he said.

Ishaq Dar said that India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 were a blatant violation of international law including the UN Charter, 4th Geneva Convention, and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. India has since been engaged in efforts to further strengthen its control over IIOJK. However, the genuine aspirations of the Kashmiri people cannot be undermined through domestic legislation, judicial verdicts or administrative actions. 

Ishaq Dar said that today, India has created an environment of fear and intimidation in IIOJK. The number of political prisoners remains in thousands. Properties of the dissenters are being confiscated as a means of punishment. The human rights defenders are not allowed to freely undertake their activities. In this backdrop, India must allow unrestricted access to the UN and OIC observers, international media and human rights organizations to IIOJK to obtain first-hand information about the situation.

Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan has consistently maintained that a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people, is essential for a lasting peace in South Asia. He said that the United Nations must honor the commitments it had made 77 years ago and take steps for implementation of the Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. For its part, Pakistan will continue to lend its full moral, diplomatic and political support for the Kashmiri people’s struggle to achieve self-determination.