New York:
Pakistani Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar predictably raised the Kashmir bogey in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Friday. he claimed that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is one of the longest standing items on the UN agenda.
Mr Kakar’s comments came during his address to the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York today.
He said, “Pakistan desires peaceful and productive relations with all our neighbors, including India,” adding that “Kashmir is the key to peace between Pakistan and India.”
India has repeatedly expressed concern over Pakistan’s support for cross-border terrorism and has asserted that terror and talks cannot go together.
India has also provided evidence of Pakistan’s support to terrorist groups at various international forums.
However, the Pakistani Prime Minister hammered home what he called the illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.
“India has evaded implementation of the Security Council resolutions calling for the final decision on Jammu and Kashmir to be decided by the people through a UN-supervised plebiscite. Since August 2019, India has deployed 900,000 troops in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir for the final settlement of Kashmir,” Kakar claimed.
Following the Indian government’s decision in August 2019 to abolish the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate it into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Pakistani government, then led by Imran Khan , expelled the Indian ambassador in Islamabad and halted bilateral trade.
India has already made it clear after the Pulwama attack in 2019 that it wants normal bilateral ties with Pakistan, adding that it is incumbent upon them to create an enabling environment free from terrorism and hostilities.
Earlier in August, former Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had expressed his willingness to talk to India.
“With our neighbors, we are willing to talk to them, provided that the neighboring country is willing to talk seriously about serious issues that are on the table, because war is no longer an option. Pakistan is a nuclear power, not as an aggressor, but for our defense purposes. We have fought three wars in the last 75 years. And what has happened is that it is creating more poverty, unemployment and lack of resources,” Prime Minister Sharif had stated.
Following this, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India wanted close relations with Pakistan but such a relationship would require an atmosphere free from terror and violence.
At a weekly briefing, the MEA spokesperson had said, “We have seen reports of the Pakistani Prime Minister’s comments on this issue. India’s clear and consistent position is well known that we desire normal relations with all our neighbors including Pakistan. For this climate free of terror and hostility is absolutely necessary.”
India now has the right to respond to Pakistan’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday morning, and a sharp retort is expected.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)