ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday said that Modi’s government is telling half-baked truths to delegitimise the movement of Kashmiris and India’s actions are a grave threat to the already volatile situation of South Asia.
Addressing the participants of a policy seminar arranged by Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate, Qureshi said that the political voices in Pakistan have been speaking with one voice despite other differences and this gives us hope as well as strength.
“Kashmiri people are facing the worst life situation for the last 22 days only for one reason; being Kashmiris. India on 5th August has attempted to consolidate its occupation which was already illegal,” he said.
Qureshi said that the father of the nation called Kashmir the jugular vein of Pakistan and Pakistan will go to any limits to bring the basic human right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people and to ensure that Indian atrocities come to a halt.
He said that Pakistan’s intensive diplomatic efforts were focused on respecting the UN resolutions and bringing the issue to a resolution in light of those resolutions.
Addressing the audience, Chairman of the Committee Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that Pakistan has no desire to escalate the situation and we believe that the only solution of the situation is for India to accept resolving the issue under the UN Resolutions. He also lauded the Committee’s efforts in keeping the Kashmir issue alive at multiple forums and said that the deliberations made here will be useful in mapping out the future strategy.
He said on the annexation of occupied Kashmir by Modi’s India and the subsequent challenges and responses, the participants of the seminar agreed on taking appropriate action to relieve the Kashmiris of Indian atrocities.
He expressed his concern that the current regime might not respect the Indus Water Treaty and an example of this was witnessed recently when early warning of opening water gates was not given to Pakistan as the treaty requires.
Chairman Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed observed that 22 days have passed since the illegal annexation and the spontaneous and unhindered retaliation of this annexation continues despite the brutalities being committed by Modi’s regime and this has contributed in internationalising the Kashmir issue.
He said that Pakistan expresses its gratitude to the global friends as well as intellectuals, scholars and civil society activists who have been outspoken in supporting the Kashmiri people and Pakistan’s perspective. He said that voices from across the globe have emerged condemning this Indian step and Indian writer Arundhati Roy called this act architecture of Indian fascism.
Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari remarked that nuclear weapons are not just a flashpoint between the two countries but India has already started operationalizing what can become in future a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
She said that Indian has not just tried to review the No First Use policy and have done it numerous times earlier also and by saying this repeatedly India is just trying to make a fool out of other nations.
She observed that changing the status or demography of an occupied state comes under war crimes under the Geneva Convention and India has committed a war crime by annexing IOK and has an agenda of ethnic cleansing. She said India is slowly going up the escalation ladder and there has been a qualitative shift in the type of LoC violations. She said that India is developing the Bramos missile and this is an area of concern for Pakistan because it is a supersonic technology with very little response time.
She gave a quantitative analysis as to how India’s military deployments have been engaged in being Pakistan specific. She observed that Pakistan’s warnings of unintended consequences in case India initiates war need to be taken seriously by India and the international community.
Syed Fakahr Imam, Chairman Kashmir Committee said that Modi has exposed the true face of India and the mask of democracy and secularism has been removed. He said that Kashmir is the genesis of Pakistan and the partition plan is not complete without resolution of the Kashmir issue. He also emphasized on the importance of the Indus Water Treaty and the future wars being driven by water sharing and management issues.