Pakistan on Thursday said the Indian election to non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council has raised a fundamental question as a country with the credential of being consistent violator of the Security Council’s resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir must be held accountable rather than being facilitated.
“We congratulate Ireland, Norway and Mexico on their election to Security Council. The election of India, however, raises fundamental questions … its actions in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and beyond are the fundamental negation of the purposes and principles of the UN charter. India is a consistent violator of UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir dispute. And rather than facilitating a country with such credentials, it must be held accountable. India must be asked to abide by the resolutions of the UN Security Council,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said in her weekly press briefing.
She said the UN Charter had entrusted the UNSC with the primary responsibility for maintenance of international peace and security. “The charter stipulates that in discharging this responsibility on behalf of the member states, the council shall act in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN. This is the touchstone for the council’s credibility and legitimacy,” she said. “Contrarily, India stood in flagrant violations of several resolutions of the UNSC which prescribed the UN supervised plebiscites to enable the people of IHK to exercise their fundamental right to self-determination,” she added.
She said India’s gross and systemic violations of the human rights in Kashmir has been extensively documented by international human rights and humanitarian organizations as well as the Office of the Commissioner of Human Rights in their reports. “India has incarcerated eight million Kashmiris including top Kashmiri leader with 900,000 occupation troops. The people of the occupied valley have been suffering under inhuman lockdown and military siege for over 10 months following India’s illegal and unilateral action of August 5, 2019,” she remarked, adding that despite ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the region has been turned into a large prison and India has persistently defied the requests to allow international monitors to the region.
She said while the world is grappled with the pandemic, India is busy unabashedly advancing the RSS-BJP inspired extremist Hindutva ideology with the perpetuated human rights violations against minorities in in India, particularly the Muslims. She said the imposition of discriminatory citizenship amendment act, initiation of national register of citizenship process, targeted killings of Muslims and repeated pogroms in Mumbai in 1993, Gujarat in 2002 and New Delhi in February 2020 are the various facets of this phenomenon.
She said India has routinely used aggression seeking to coerce its neighbours and has employed terrorism at one time or another as state policy to destabilize every neighbouring state. “India’s so-called 5S approach in the UN Security Council is only a smoke screen to mask the arrogant, belligerent and confrontational side of India. Perhaps India will do well to consider another S that is Satya or truth – the truth of Indian oppression, aggression and occupation of Jummu and Kashmir which cannot be covered up by false espousals,” she remarked.
The spokesperson said Pakistan will continue to be working with the rest of the members of the Security Council in advancing the objectives of international peace and security in South Asia and beyond. She also congratulated Turkish Ambassador as Volkan Bozkir of Turkey on his election as President of 75th session of the UN General Assembly. She said consequent to the efforts by the government and the foreign missions, 82, 462 Pakistani nationals had so far been repatriated from 73 countries.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Thursday summoned Indian Charge d’Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia and registered strong protest over ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on June 17, 2020, resulting in the martyrdom of four innocent civilians and serious injuries to one.
According to Foreign Office, the Indian diplomat was summoned by Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri to protest the ‘indiscriminate and unprovoked’ firing by the Indian occupation forces in Bagsar and Nikial sectors of the LoC. “The Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons. This year, India has committed 1410 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 12 martyrdoms and serious injuries to 102 innocent civilians,” the Foreign Office said.
Condemning the targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, the DG underscored that such senseless acts, in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding and complete disregard for international human rights law and international norms, has further vitiated the already tense atmosphere. He added that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India cannot divert attention from the worsening human rights situation in the Indian-held Kashmir. The Indian government must realize that its irresponsible policies and unilateral actions were increasingly imperiling peace and security in the region. India must act responsibly in the interest of regional peace and stability, he added.
