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Thursday March 28, 2024

Only Kashmiris have the right to decide their future: Sartaj Aziz

By Web Desk
July 24, 2016

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Sunday that it was the prerogative of Kashmiris only to determine whether they wanted to accede to India or Pakistan. 

One day after India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj lashed out at Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and said that 'Kashmir could never become a part of Pakistan', Sartaj Aziz urged India to hold a UN-supervised poll to allow Kashmir to vote for their future. 

"The issue of Kashmir will only be resolved through referendum," said Sartaj. "Whether Kashmiris vote in favour of Pakistan or India, the whole world will accept the results," he added. 

He also stated that the United Nations' Security Council had promised Kashmiris the right to decide their own future. Sartaj Aziz said that Sushma Swaraj referred to freedom fighter Burhan Wani as a terrorist while his funeral was attended by more than two-hundred thousand people. He urged India not to neglect this fact. 

"Despite the curfew imposed by India, people from fifty different places came to Burhan Wani's funeral," he said. "After Wani's martyrdom, protests have been going on for the past fifteen days," he said. 

He said that Pakistan stood with the people of Kashmir for the solution of their issue in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations. 

"Pakistan will continue to support the people of Kashmir politically, morally and ethically," he said. 

Protest riots in India broke out after the killing of freedom fighter Burhan Wani. Fifty people were killed and almost three thousand were injured as protesters braved Indian shelling and curfews to take to the streets in defiance of the Indian security forces.