Solution to Kashmir issue must for South Asia peace: Qureshi

LONDON: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Thursday said without resolving the Kashmir dispute, durable peace could not be achieved in the South Asian region.

The situation in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) is worsening day by day, while India is hesitant in holding talks with Pakistan and not ready to resolve the Kashmir issue, he said while addressing a press conference here at the Pakistan High Commission.

Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Mohammad Nafees Zakaria was also present on the occasion. Shah Mehmood Qureshi is currently visiting the UK to participate in the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting 2019, which is convened to mark 70th anniversary of London declaration, which marked the creation of Commonwealth Nations. The minister said India wanted to weaken Pakistan economically.

Like the first UN human rights report on the IHK, its second one had also highlighted the gross HR violations in the occupied valley. He said another report comprising 507 pages by civil society in India had highlighted the excessive use of force and gross human rights violation in that country. The foreign minister said he had informed the Commonwealth meeting that there is democracy in Pakistan.

After three consecutive elections, the power was smoothly transferred from one civilian government to another, and three democratic governments completed their five-year terms. He said observers from the Commonwealth and the European Union, in their reports, had declared the in the general election 2018 free, fair and credible which was a good sign for democracy in Pakistan. He said he told the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting that democracy and the democratic institutions are strengthening in Pakistan.