ISLAMABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq on Saturday praised Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar for highlighting the Kashmir issue in his speech at the UN General Assembly session. The AJK PM said that PM Kakar’s landmark speech fully reflected the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
Hailing Pakistan’s consistent support for the Kashmiris’ just cause, he said Pakistan has not only supported the Kashmiris’ legitimate struggle for the right to self-determination but also championed the Kashmiris’ case effectively at every international forum.
Terming the Kashmir issue as one of the oldest issues pending on the UN agenda, the AJK premier said that it was high time the global community, especially the United Nations, should move beyond political rhetoric and play their much-needed role to help resolve the lingering dispute peacefully in accordance with the UNSC resolutions.
He said the time has come that the United Nations should reciprocate positively to Pakistan’s clarion call for holding a referendum and implement its resolutions on Kashmir.
Referring to New Delhi’s traditional intransigence, the AJK PM said India’s perpetual denial to implement the UN resolutions has been the biggest hurdle in the way of peace in the region. He said that India tried to change the disputed nature of the Kashmir dispute by revoking Article 370 and 35A on August 5, 2019 but failed miserably.
The people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), he said, have been fighting against India’s illegal occupation for the last several years. He added that Kashmiris, who have time and again rejected India’s illegal control over the territory, have been demanding the implementation of the UNSC resolutions that guaranteed the right to self-determination of the people of the region. He said Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar rightly pointed out that lasting peace in South Asia was inescapably linked to the settlement of the Kashmir dispute.