FCO minister alarmed at held Kashmir situation

LONDON: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister Andrew Murrison has told Pakistan High Commissioner Nafees Zakaria that the United Kingdom is aware of the situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK) and noted it is a matter of concern.

High Commissioner Zakaria called on the FCO minister to discuss the situation in the disputed territory, the Pakistan High Commission said in a press release on Wednesday. Murrison said he recognised the perils that surround the issue of Kashmir in the current circumstances.

Zakaria briefed the minister about the gross human rights violations in IOK, the threat to the regional security due to unilateral actions by India and the simultaneous heating up of the situation at the Line of Control and Working Boundary.

The High Commissioner highlighted the violations of UN Security Council Resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir committed by India. He drew the FCO minister’s attention on the steps taken by India to systematically alter the demography of IOK to convert it from a Muslim majority to Muslim minority territory.

In the context of human rights violations and atrocities perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces, the High Commissioner referred to the various reports issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir.

Zakaria apprised the minister of the steps taken by Pakistan to create awareness among the international community and to urge them to intervene to stop the bloodshed of innocent and defenceless Kashmiris.

Murrison felicitated the High Commissioner and the Pakistani community in the UK on Pakistan’s Independence Day.