India deliberately escalating tension at LoC: FO

ISLAMABAD: Indian forces are continuously committing unprovoked ceasefire violations at the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary to divert attention of the international community from the core issue of Kashmir.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said this at his weekly press briefing here on Thursday, adding that India was deliberately escalating tension at the LoC. He said that in 2017, India committed 542 ceasefire violations in which 18 innocent civilians were killed. Indian atrocities and human rights violations had been intensified in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) which needed world attention.

He said that the 44th session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers, held in Abidjan, Republic of Cote d'Ivoire on July 10-11, 2017, condemned the state terrorism in IHK and called upon India to implement the United Nations Security Council resolutions on Kashmir.

Zakaria said a resolution, which was unanimously adopted by the 56-member council, noted that Jammu and Kashmir remained the core dispute between India and Pakistan and its early resolution was imperative for bringing peace to South Asia.

He said the council expressed its support to the widespread indigenous movement of IHK people for their promised right to self-determination and observed that the just struggle of Kashmiris could not be equated with terrorism.

The council also called upon the United Nations to play its role in stopping the continuing bloodshed in Indian-held Kashmir. The council also asked for implementation of the UNSC resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir, which guaranteed Kashmiris' right to self-determination through a UN-supervised plebiscite.

Zakaria said solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris had been expressed across the world including in the United Kingdom, Europe and North America in the form of peaceful demonstrations.

The Kashmir dispute's reflection in the UK Labour Party’s election manifesto and in the January 19 debate in the House of Commons showed increasing concerns over the current unacceptable human rights situation in IHK.

He said today (July 13) Kashmiris were observing Yaum-e-Shuhada to commemorate unprecedented sacrifices rendered by them in 1931. "We pay tribute to Shuhada (martyrs) and express solidarity with Kashmiris in their struggle against Indian unlawful occupation of their territory," he added.

Replying to a question regarding the missing Pakistani diplomatic staff and two Pakistani citizens in Afghanistan, the spokesperson said Pakistan was in touch with Afghan authorities for their early recovery.