Rights of Kashmiris

UNGA president, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, arrived in Islamabad last week on a five-day visit. This is the diplomat’s first visit to the Asia-Pacific region as president of the UNGA. It is important to mention that the UNGA president, in response to a question on grave human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir, said that it was the responsibility of each member state of the UN to respect and guarantee the fundamental rights and dignity of people. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi briefed Espinosa and conveyed Pakistan’s deep concern over the systematic human rights abuses in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, while underscoring the need for the UN to ensure the implementation of Security Council resolutions.

Pakistan-India ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place. Pakistan was a peaceful country that wanted to remain peaceful with its neighbours, but it could not ignore Kashmir and the negation of human rights there needing the UN intervention on an urgent basis.

Afia Ambreen

Rawalpindi