Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday called US President Donald Trump to discuss the atrocities being committed by the Indian security forces in the occupied valley as well as the regional situation arising from India’s illegal move over Held Kashmir.
“The prime minister conveyed to the US president the situation and danger which can arise in Kashmir,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a video statement. He said the prime minister took the US president into confidence about Pakistan’s concerns over Indian action and its consequences to the regional peace and stability.
The prime minister’s conversation with the US president came at the time when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was set to take up the Kashmir issue, Qureshi said. Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, has contacted a number of other world leaders in this regard. Pakistan has also approached four out of five heads of UNSC member states over the issue, he added. Qureshi said the prime minister and the US president also discussed the Afghan situation. “Pakistan is committed to the Afghan peace process and will continue its conciliatory role for peace and stability in the region,” he added.
Earlier in a series of tweets, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the Indian government’s ‘fascist tactics’ in occupied valley ‘to smother the Kashmiri liberation struggle will fail miserably’.
The prime minister, who has been tweeting regularly in support of Kashmiris after the Indian government stripped the people of the occupied valley of their autonomy, said, “The fascist, Hindu supremacist [Narendra] Modi government should know that while armies, militants and terrorists can be defeated by superior forces, history tells us that when a nation unites in a freedom struggle and does not fear death, no force can stop it from achieving its goal.” “That is why the Hindutva exclusivist creed of the Modi-led government with its fascist tactics in IoK will fail miserably in its attempt to smother the Kashmiri liberation struggle,” he said in a second tweet.
Also on Friday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi telephoned his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor and apprised her about the prevailing situation in Held Kashmir. Qureshi said India is committing worst form of human rights violations in the occupied valley. He said the people of the occupied territory are facing great difficulties due the curfew imposed by India for the last 12 days. He said the people have no access to medicines and food while all sources of communications including mobile and internet have been blocked. The foreign minister said India wants to destroy regional peace by resorting to unconstitutional steps in the occupied valley. He also briefed his South African counterpart about the contours of the letter he wrote to the UN Security Council. The South African minister of international relations said her country is monitoring the whole situation. Expressing concern over the situation in Kashmir, she said that she will immediately contact the parliamentarians of her country on the matter. She hinted at bringing a joint resolution from the South African parliament about the Kashmir situation.
Meanwhile, Spanish Foreign Minister Joesp Borrell Friday assured Pakistan that Spain and the European Union (EU) will make every effort to ensure peace and stability in South Asia following New Delhi’s ill-conceived move to strip the occupied valley of its autonomy.
In a telephonic conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Borrell said they were closely monitoring the situation and that any further escalation will have severe impact on the peace and security in the region. Qureshi and his Spanish counterpart has agreed to continue to work together for peace and stability in the region, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office. He highlighted the illegal and unilateral steps taken by New Delhi to change the disputed status of IHK and its demographic structure. The foreign minister maintained that these steps by India are in contravention of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir and the international law. He warned that the actions taken by India entail grave risk for peace and security in the region.
