Qureshi hails UK MPs for Kashmir stance in meeting with Lord Tariq

NEW YORK: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has called upon the members of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to fulfil their primary responsibility of maintenance of international peace and security as he hailed the efforts of British parliamentarians in highlighting gross violations of human rights in Indian occupied Kashmir.

Qureshi expressed these views in a meeting with United Kingdom’s Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations Lord Tariq Ahmad, on the margins of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York late Thursday.

Expressing concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K), Qureshi said international outcry and outrage against the Indian atrocities continued to grow stronger with each passing day.

He mentioned that dozens of protests had been held across the world, including in the UK, against Indian atrocities. He said the meeting of the UNSC on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir not only reaffirmed the disputed nature of the territory but also signified that the Council was cognizant of the evolving situation and the potential risks to regional peace and security.

The foreign minister welcomed the efforts of the British parliamentarians as well as Pakistani and Kashmiri diaspora in highlighting the gross violations of human rights in IOJ&K. Other issues of regional and international importance also came under discussion during the meeting.