Maleeha briefs UNGA president on Kashmiris ordeal under lockdown

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistani Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi met the United Nations General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa on Monday and briefed her on the grave situation in the Indian Held Kashmir, which is reeling under tight lockdown for the past 23 days.

Ambassador Lodhi met the 193-member Assembly president at UN Headquarters in New York on her return from a foreign tour. The meeting with Ms Espinosa was a part of the Pakistani envoy's continuing efforts to brief top UN officials and diplomats since August 5 when India annexed the occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan denounced the illegal Indian move, saying it violates international law and that the UN must intervene. In a tweet, Ambassador Lodhi said she briefed the UNGA president "in detail about the grave situation in occupied Kashmir where the continuing curfew and lockdown is exacerbating the sufferings of the Kashmiri people."

Residents of Kashmir are facing acute shortage of life-saving medicines, essential commodities including baby food as they remain besieged in what has become the world's biggest prison. All internet, communications services and TV channels are closed in the region. In her tweet, the Pakistani envoy also said that the UN should live up to its obligations on Kashmir. The Kashmir dispute remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council.