SCO moot: Hurriyat leader lauds Bilawal's stance on Kashmir

Hurriyat leader Abdul Hameed Lone Friday praised Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's principled stance in India of not compromising on the issue of Kashmir.

Bilawal was in Goa, India on a two-day visit to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) summit, where he met counterparts from several nations.

The visit by Bilawal to India was the first by a Pakistani foreign minister to Delhi in over a decade and has garnered a lot of media attention in both countries. The two have fought three wars, share frosty relations, and have downgraded their diplomatic ties.

"I welcome Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto's statement. Along with India, he also told the world that [Pakistan] would not compromise when it comes to Kashmir," the Hurriyat leader said in a statement.

Lone said FM Bilawal's insistence on implementation of the United Nations resolutions is encouraging. "Bilawal stressed that India's August 5 decision was against the UN resolutions."

The Hurriyat leader said due to Pakistan's clear stance on the region's issue, India's negative propaganda has been exposed and it has led to a wave of happiness in the region.

Speaking to reporters ahead of his departure to Pakistan, the foreign minister said Pakistan and India want peace, stressing that New Delhi has to create a "conducive environment" for talks between the neighbouring nations.

The onus is on India to create a conducive environment for talks, said the foreign minister, adding that India's decision to end the special status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 undermined the environment for holding talks between the neighbours.

Bilawal said, however, that despite his rare visit to India, there was no change in the status of diplomatic relations. "India took illegal steps in August 2019 and violated the UN resolutions by its actions," said the FM.