Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi takes up Kashmir conflict with UN chief, seeks intervention

Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has taken up the Kashmir issue with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Pic Courtesy: IANS

Days after India cancelled talks between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan has taken up the Kashmir issue with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

According to a report in Pakistan-based Geo News, Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the UN Secretary General that the Kashmir conflict with India must be resolved on the basis of the wishes of the local people. He added that the resolution must also be in accordance with statutes of the United Nations.

Urging the UN Secretary General to participate in the resolution of conflict between India and Pakistan, Qureshi alleged that there were human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, governed by New Delhi.

Qureshi also raked up a UN report alleging human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, which was backed by Pakistan and rejected strongly by India. The report had alleged human rights violations in both "Indian-administered and Pakistan-administered Kashmir" and sought an international inquiry into the alleged abuses.

India had strongly rejected the first-of-its-kind UN report on Jammu and Kashmir, calling it “fallacious, tendentious and motivated”. India had questioned the intent behind bringing out a report with “selective compilation of largely unverified information.”

Reacting strongly to the same, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said that the report was "overtly prejudiced" and seeks to build a "false narrative".

In its statement, the MEA had said, “The report violates India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan is in illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state through aggression. We have repeatedly called upon Pakistan to vacate the occupied territories. The incorrect description of Indian territory in the report is mischievous, misleading and unacceptable. There are no entities such as 'Azad Jammu and Kashmir' and 'Gilgit-Baltistan'.”