Condemning Indian state repression in the disputed Kashmir region, Pakistan on Wednesday made a case to the international community that peace and normalization between Pakistan and India cannot be achieved without a resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
“This is an objective evaluation, not a partisan position,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said, addressing the 71st session of the UN General Assembly as South Asia witnessed a rapid exacerbation of tensions between nuclear armed Pakistan and India.
Sharif spoke as the United States, China and major countries expressed concern at the soaring tensions in the region following massacre of over 100 civilians at the hands of Indian forces and an attack on Uri military based that killed more than a dozen Indian army men.
India has blamed Pakistan for the Uri attack while Pakistan has called Indian allegations as a pretext to hide its state terror in the Himalayan territory, rcognized as disputed under several UN Security Council resolutions.
But the Pakistani leader the uprising is indegous and spontaneous, following killing of Burhani Wani in July.
“This 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.”
Sharif noted that these Indian brutalities are well documented, vowing 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.
“These brutalities 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.”
Pakistan, he said, 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.”
Nawaz Sharif also sought a world body’s probe into bloodshed in Kashmir.
“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, I demand an independent inquiry into the extra-judicial killings, and a UN fact finding mission to investigate brutalities perpetrated by the Indian occupying forces, so that those guilty of these atrocities are punished.
“We demand the immediate release of all Kashmiri political prisoners; an end to the curfew; freedom for the Kashmiris to demonstrate peacefully; urgent medical helpfor the injured; abrogation of India’s draconian ‘laws’; and removal of the foreign travel ban on Kashmiri leaders.”
The Security Council, Sharif reminded the forum, 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 deliver on the commitments its leaders solemnly made on many occasions, he said.
“To this end, steps should be taken by the United Nations to de-militarize Jammu and Kashmir and undertake consultations with India, Pakistan and the true representatives of the Kashmiri people 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.”
Sharif also spoke about Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts, saying it has launched the world’s biggest operation against militants in its areas bordering Afghanistan.
Terrorism, however, is now a global phenomenon, which must be addressed comprehensively and in all its forms, including State 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 extra-territorial application targeted against certain countries,” the Pakistani prime minister said.
“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,” he cautioineed.
“Until these underlying causes are addressed, it will be difficult to counter the twisted narrative of violent extremists and terrorists.”
Nawaz Shrif warned that 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.
“But we cannot ignore our neighbor’s unprecedented arms build up 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.
“We are ready for talks to agree on a bilateral nuclear test ban treaty.
“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 said.
