Pakistan Foreign Minister SM Qureshi Urges UN Chief to Intervene to Resolve Kashmir Issue

Many recent developments led to the volte-face.

New Delhi: Days after India called off talks with Pakistan, the neighbouring country has raked up the Kashmir issue with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. As per 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 according to the wish of the local people.

He even alleged that there are human rights violations in the Jammu and Kashmir. Qureshi quoted the report in which it alleged human rights violation in Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and demanded an international probe into it. In its first report on human rights in the region, the UN had issued a directive to Pakistan to end “misuse” of an anti-terror legislation to persecute activists and suppress voices of dissent. (ALSO READ: UN Report on Human Rights Violation in Jammu And Kashmir ‘Motivated’: Bipin Rawat)

However, India had slammed the UN report and termed it a “selective compilation of largely unverified statements”, adding that it “violates India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and questioned the intent behind it. “The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan is in the illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state through aggression,” said MEA statement.

The main focus of the UN report was the alleged violations in Jammu and Kashmir from July 2016 and April 2018. According to UN estimates, around 145 civilians were killed by security forces while armed groups have killed at least 20 civilians in the same period.

Recently, India had called off the foreign ministry-level talks with Pakistan blaming the latter for the killing of three soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian.