PM Nawaz reminds world of Kashmir genocide at UNGA

Asks UN to demilitarise Kashmir, hold talks with India, Pakistan and Kashmiris to implement UNSC resolutions

In a much-awaited address to the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday urged the world body to de-militarise Jammu and Kashmir and undertake consultations with all stakeholders in the Kashmir dispute – India, Pakistan and the true representatives of the Kashmiri people – in order to implement the resolutions of the Security Council.

“In this context, we welcome the offer of good offices by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. We will also open consultations with members of the Security Council to explore the modalities for implementation of the Security Council resolutions on Kashmir,” said the prime minister while addressing the audiences at the General Debate of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

Talking about peace efforts launched by Pakistan with India, Prime Minister said confrontation should not be our destiny in South Asia.

“Pakistan wants peace with India. I have gone the extra mile to achieve this, repeatedly offering a dialogue to address all outstanding issues. But India has posed unacceptable preconditions to engage in a dialogue. Let us be clear: talks are no favour to Pakistan. Talks are in the interest of both countries. They are essential to resolve our differences, especially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and to avert the danger of any escalation,” he asserted.

“Today, from this rostrum, I would also like to reiterate our offer to India to enter into a serious and sustained dialogue for the peaceful resolution of all outstanding disputes, especially Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

The premier declared without mincing words that peace and normalisation between Pakistan and India cannot be achieved without a resolution of the Kashmir dispute. This is an objective evaluation, not a partisan position, he asserted.

He said Pakistan fully supports the demand of the Kashmiri people for self-determination, as promised to them by several Security Council resolutions. Their struggle is a legitimate one for liberation from alien occupation, he added.

“The international law and the declarations of the United Nations on Self-Determination, give the Kashmiri people the right to struggle for their freedom. Every year, the General Assembly unanimously adopts the resolution, which reaffirms ‘the right of all peoples to self-determination’ and calls on the states concerned to immediately end their occupation and ‘all acts of repression’,” he said.

The premier also demanded an independent inquiry into the extra-judicial killings and a UN fact-finding mission to go into occupied Kashmir and investigate brutalities perpetrated by the Indian occupying forces, so that those guilty of these atrocities are punished.

“On behalf of the Kashmiri people; on behalf of the mothers, wives, sisters, and fathers of the innocent Kashmiri children, women and men who have been killed, blinded and injured; on behalf of the Pakistani nation ….. we demand the immediate release of all Kashmiri political prisoners; an end to the curfew; freedom for the Kashmiris to demonstrate peacefully; urgent medical help for the injured; abrogation of India’s draconian ‘laws’; and removal of the foreign travel ban on Kashmiri leaders,” he added.Reiterating the self-determination right for Kashmiri people, Nawaz Sharif said the Security Council has called for the exercise of the right to self-determination by the people of Jammu and Kashmir through a free and fair plebiscite held under UN auspices.

“The people of Kashmir have waited 70 years for implementation of this promise. The Security Council must honour its commitments by implementing its own decisions. This General Assembly must demand that India delivers on the commitments its leaders solemnly made on many occasions,” he added.

Referring to the new wave of uprising in Kashmir, the prime minister said our predictions have now been confirmed by events as a new generation of Kashmiris has risen spontaneously against India’s illegal occupation – demanding freedom from occupation.

“Burhan Wani, the young leader murdered by Indian forces, has emerged as the symbol of the latest Kashmiri Intifada, a popular and peaceful freedom movement, led by Kashmiris, young and old, men and women, armed only with an undying faith in the legitimacy of their cause, and a hunger for freedom in their hearts,” said the prime minister.

Nawaz Sharif regretted that the indigenous uprising of the Kashmiris has been met, as usual, with brutal repression by India’s occupation force of over half a million soldiers.

“Over a hundred Kashmiris have been killed, hundreds, including children and infants, blinded by shotgun pellets and over six thousand unarmed civilians injured over the past two months.

These Indian brutalities are well documented. I would like to inform the General Assembly that Pakistan will share with the Secretary General a dossier containing detailed information and evidence of the gross and systematic violations of human rights committed by Indian forces in occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” he maintained.

However, Nawaz Sharif made it clear that these brutalities by Indian forces will not suppress the spirit of the Kashmiris; it will only intensify their anger and fortify their determination to see India end its occupation of Kashmir. From Srinagar to Sopore, the men, women and children come out each day, defying curfew, to demand freedom, he added.

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty:

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also offered talks with India for a bilateral nuclear test ban treaty. “The international community ignores the danger of rising tensions in South Asia, at its own peril. For its part, Pakistan is committed to the establishment of strategic stability in the region. It neither wants nor is it engaged in an arms race with India. We are ready for talks to agree on a bilateral nuclear test ban treaty,” he said.

Sharif also warned that Pakistan cannot ignore its neighbour’s unprecedented arms buildup and will take whatever measures are necessary to maintain credible deterrence.

“We have consistently urged the conclusion of bilateral arms control and disarmament measures between Pakistan and India to prevent conflict and avoid wasteful military expenditures. We are open to discussing all measures of restraint and responsibility with India, in any forum or format and without any conditions,” he maintained.

Terrorism:

Prime Minister said that terrorism was now a global phenomenon, which must be addressed comprehensively and in all its forms, including State terrorism.

“Our priority goal of economic development requires internal peace and stability. My country has been the principal victim of terrorism including that supported, sponsored and financed from abroad. We will not allow externally sponsored terrorism and threats of destabilisation to cause turbulence in Pakistan,” he added.

Prime Minister said tens of thousands of Pakistani citizens and thousands of its security personnel have been killed or injured in terrorist attacks.

“This has only reinforced our resolve to eliminate the scourge of terrorism. Our comprehensive strategy of law enforcement and targeted military operations has produced remarkable results and enabled Pakistan to turn the tide against terrorism. Pakistan’s Zarb-e-Azb Operation is the largest, most robust and most successful anti-terrorism campaign anywhere in the world, deploying 200,000 of our security forces,” he added.

He said the comprehensive National Action Plan has the complete endorsement of our people and our Parliament as well as our security forces, all of whom have made heroic sacrifices to defeat terrorism.

“The international community must coordinate its efforts to accomplish this. These efforts should be taken collectively and not unilaterally by the passage of any laws with an extra-territorial application targeted against certain countries,” he added.

“We will not win the fight against terrorism and violent extremism so long as we do not address their root causes. These lie in poverty and ignorance, political and social injustice and oppression, foreign intervention and occupation and denial of the legitimate rights of peoples and nations, especially the right to self-determination. Until these underlying causes are addressed, it will be difficult to counter the twisted narrative of violent extremists and terrorists,” he asserted.

He said a new cold war threatens to engulf Europe and the momentum there towards “greater union” has already reversed. “Barricades and walls are going up, especially against the tide of misery flowing out of a turbulent Middle East. In many countries, intolerance has revived the ghosts of xenophobia and Islamophobia,” he added. He said turmoil is intensifying in the Middle East.

“International efforts to defeat Daesh are therefore urgent. For this, it is essential to reconcile the divergent objectives and priorities of regional and external powers. Peace cannot be built when injustice prevails. The long-festering tragedy of Palestine demands determined action by the international community,” he maintained.

Economy:

Sharif said that after decades of strong growth, the world economy has reached a plateau.

Despite this adverse international economic environment, my government has, in three short years, moved the country towards robust growth, he added.

“We have fully integrated the 2030 Development Agenda into our own economic and social strategy. This rests on our conviction that people are the true wealth of our nation and that it is human development, which will determine our future destiny.

Afghanistan:

The primer said after 15 years of the current war in Afghanistan, the international community agrees that the only road to a lasting peace in that country is through a dialogue between the Government in Kabul and the Afghan Taliban.

“Pakistan has long proposed this as the most viable course to end decades of conflict and suffering in Afghanistan. Based on this belief in a negotiated peace, and in response to requests from President Ashraf Ghani, we have been facilitating the process of reconciliation in Afghanistan,” he added.

The prime minister, however, acknowledged the facts there have been setbacks in peace efforts. “That, however, is not a sufficient reason to abandon the path of peace and rely on the military option, which has failed, for the past decade and a half, to stabilise Afghanistan. Progress will be assured only when the Afghan parties themselves conclude that there is no military solution to the Afghan war, and work assiduously, through a meaningful dialogue process, for achieving reconciliation and peace at home,” he asserted.

He said over three and a half decades of conflict and chaos in Afghanistan has had grave security and economic consequences for Pakistan. Almost three million Afghan refugees, to whom we opened our homes and hearts, remain in Pakistan, he added.

“We hope to see them return to Afghanistan, voluntarily and with dignity. Until they do, the international community must shoulder its responsibilities to sustain them,” he asserted.

Nukes & NSG:

The prime minister said that Pakistan, as a responsible nuclear weapon state, would continue to cooperate with all international efforts that seek to promote fair and equitable solutions to disarmament and non-proliferation challenges.

“We have introduced ‘state of the art’ measures to strengthen the safety and security of our nuclear materials and facilities. We have adopted a comprehensive export control regime that is fully consistent with international standards. Judged on the basis of objective criteria, and without discrimination, Pakistan is fully eligible for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group,” he maintained.

He said that Pakistan has a vital stake in ending conflicts, fostering peace, fighting terrorism, strengthening democracy, promoting human rights, generating global growth and overcoming the challenges of environmental degradation. “We can achieve these goals, and create a new and peaceful world order, only through the United Nations and by strict adherence to the principles of its Charter,” concluded the prime minister.