Pakistan on Tuesday claimed that the international community has rejected India's contention that Kashmir is primarily a cross-border terrorism issue.
"India's contention that Kashmir issue is, primarily, an issue of cross-border terrorism, is a claim that no one in the world is prepared to accept today,” Pakistan Prime Minister’s foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz said.
In a statement issued by Pakistan's Foreign Office today, Aziz said that in the past two decades India has "scuttled all opportunities for a meaningful dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN Security Council's relevant Resolutions on Kashmir."
Islamabad has always welcomed the endeavours aimed at addressing the human rights issues in the Valley and the resolution of the Kashmir issue, Aziz said.
Despite the conviction that Pakistan puts into its assertions, Indian investigations have more than once found a direct connect between the Pakistan establishment, its military, intelligence and the militant groups operating from its soil with the disturbance that has hit the restive Kashmir Valley. ADD INPUTS FROM WHATSAPP STORY IN KASHMIR XXXXXXXXXX
The statement comes a day after India conveyed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Kashmir is a Indo-Pak bilateral matter, essentially due to cross-border terrorism. Erdogan had advocated a multilateral dialogue to resolve Kashmir issue. Aziz also welcomed Erdogan’s suggestion of having a multilateral dialogue to resolve the issue.
The recent offer of Erdogan to strengthen the dialogue process among the stakeholders for resolving the Kashmir issue and his call for a multilateral approach to settle the issue must be welcomed, Aziz said.
“In this context, the Indian counter proposal that it is ready for bilateral dialogue with Pakistan is no longer credible because in the past two decades India has scuttled all opportunities for a meaningful dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN Security Council’s relevant resolutions on Kashmir,” Aziz said.
He alleged that the Indian government has broken its “own record of brutality” in Kashmir by “indiscriminately killing” unarmed Kashmiri protesters.
Aziz said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Declaration’ adopted by the 13th Summit in Istanbul, in April last, “out-rightly rejected India’s attempts of equating the Kashmiris’ freedom struggle with terrorism.”
“Political analysts and members of civil society from across the globe have concluded that the large scale uprising, which is going on in Kashmir, involving mostly young unarmed Kashmiris confronting fully armed Indian forces, clearly shows that Kashmir is a burning issue requiring urgent international attention,” Aziz said.
Contrary to Pakistan’s claims, India’s troubled neighbour has found itself diplomatically isolated after India’s offensive at multiple forums.
On Monday, in an act of extreme cowardice, the Pak Army killed two Indian security personnel and mutilated their bodies yesterday morning along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Border action teams (BATs) of Pakistan army sneaked about 250 metres into Indian territory along the LoC and mutilated the bodies of Indian security personnel, Indian Army said, while warning that such "despicable act" will be "appropriate responded."
"Pak Army carried out unprovoked rocket and mortar firing on two forward posts on the line of control in Krishna Ghati Sector. Simultaneously a BAT action was launched on a patrol operating in between the two posts," Army's Northern Command said in a statement.
