Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi calls for the resolution of the lingering dispute of Indian-held Kashmir in line with UN resolutions.
Pakistan’s foreign minister on Wednesday briefed the Islamabad-based ambassadors of the EU member states over the human rights situation in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The briefing was given during a working luncheon for the EU ambassadors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.
Highlighting the need for a peaceful solution to the issue, Shah Mahmood Qureshi called for the resolution of the long-smoldering dispute between the two nuclear neighbors, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
He also dilated upon Pakistan’s “positive” contributions to the Afghan peace process, which aims to bring an end to a 19-year bloody conflict in the war-infested country.
The Pakistan-EU relationship, the statement said, has strengthened steadily over the years and is pursued through sound institutional mechanisms and dialogue processes.
The two sides elevated their relationship by signing the Strategic Engagement Plan (SEP) in June 2019.
Qureshi also briefed the ambassadors over Islamabad’s anti-coronavirus strategy, stressing the global community “must come together to combat the virus and should realize that nobody is safe till everyone is safe.”
Appreciating the continuation of GSP Plus status to Pakistan, he opined the “growing economic trajectory coupled with extensive natural resources offered huge opportunities for enhanced trade, investment, and tourism” between the two sides.
Disputed region
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
Since they were partitioned in 1947, New Delhi and Islamabad have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965, and 1971 – two of them over Kashmir.
Also, in the Siachen Glacier region of northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire took effect in 2003.
Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.
According to several human rights organizations, thousands have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989.