ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has welcomed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights proposal to establish a commission of inquiry for international investigation into human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal in a statement on Thursday said this.
“The proposal is consistent with Pakistan’s several calls to this effect since 2016. The report is a reminder of this internationally recognized dispute and the urgency of its settlement both to protect human lives and promote peace,” he said.
He pointed out that India continued to ignore legitimate demands for probe into gross and systematic violations in the held valley.
The spokesperson said the contents, scale and the narrative of killings, maiming, abuse and impunity articulated in the report is a reaffirmation of what Pakistan has long been highlighting.
Read More: United Nations urges inquiry into human rights violations in Kashmir
He said the lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was an essential imperative for peace, security and stability of South Asia and beyond.
“India’s continued denial of this imperative, its unwillingness to engage in a dialogue process with Pakistan and suppression of Kashmiris’ aspirations for freedom continued to endanger regional and international peace and security,” he said.
Dr Faisal said the UN had a key role to play in the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Pakistan rejects Indian protest over Azad Jammu & Kashmir interim Constitution Act 2018
The FO said Pakistan categorically rejected India’s protest against the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Interim Constitution Act 2018 and its fallacious and baseless claim over the Indian occupied State of Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India.
In a statement, the foreign office spokesman said the Indian claim had no legal basis and continued to be contradicted by the situation on ground since the last seven decades.
He said the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir was a disputed territory.
Read More: ‘Rising Kashmir’ editor shot dead in India-Occupied Kashmir
The statement said Kashmir’s disputed status was enshrined in the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, which stipulated that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir would be determined through the democratic method of a transparent, free and fair plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations to ascertain the wishes of the Kashmiris.
The spokesperson said Indian intransigence to implement UN Security Council resolutions in letter and spirit continued to hold hostage peace and development in the region.
Faisal said instead of making frivolous protests and issuing legally untenable and uncalled for statements, India should take steps to vacate its illegal occupation, fulfill its international obligations and expedite resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in line with the UN Security Council Resolutions.
