IOK has become world’s largest military zone: Foreign Office

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday said Indian actions in Occupied Kashmir have made it the largest military zone in the world.

The Foreign Office said Pakistan is considering several legal and political aspects along with taking the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It said the Foreign Office has always taken the cause of Jammu and Kashmir very seriously, as it is the core issue of Pakistan’s foreign policy.

“The vision of Pakistan’s foreign policy is given at the leadership level by the government. The steering of this vision is carried out under the direction of the foreign minister by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We take the cause of Jammu and Kashmir very seriously, it is the core issue of Pakistan’s foreign policy. The observation that the Foreign Office is not taking it seriously is not accurate,” spokesperson at the Foreign Office responded during the weekly media briefing.

She was asked to respond to criticism by even cabinet ministers that the Foreign Office had failed to keep pace with the vision on Kashmir as was reflected by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari, who says she has followed the issue for four decades, this week appeared critical of the performance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying in the National Assembly, “The prime minister took forward the Kashmir issue, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot follow his vision.”

She advocated sending parliamentary delegationsabroad since the Foreign Office had missed several opportunities. While the name of the minister for human rights was not raised at the Foreign Office, the spokesperson defended the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Pakistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have never been shy or negligent towards this core issue of our foreign policy. We are dedicated in taking it forward,” she added. The spokesperson said that as soon as India took the illegal and unilateral actions on 5th August 2019, the Kashmir Cell was established in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“It is a multi-agency unit dedicated to monitor the evolving situation in Jammu and Kashmir and to take forward the strategy articulated by the government and steered by the foreign minister and executed by over 100 missions of Pakistan all over the world. Taking forward the strategy on the Kashmir cause is not an event, it is a process. All aspects of Jammu and Kashmir dispute including legal, political and humanitarian are taken forward in accordance with the UNSC Resolutions,” she added.

The spokesperson was also asked as to what were the options available with the Foreign Office since so far, it had failed to convince Saudi Arabia to hold an emergency meeting on Kashmir. She was reminded of the comments of Prime Minister Imran Khan in Malaysia this week where he had also complained about disunity in the OIC which had failed to meet on Kashmir.

In response, the spokesperson decided not to give a direct response but rather praised the OIC’s working on Kashmir.

“The OIC and Pakistan have deep engagement. Historically, OIC has been one of the strongest proponents of Kashmir cause and several OIC resolutions have been passed on different aspects of Jammu and Kashmir dispute, including human rights violations, legal aspects of the dispute and the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as per the UNSC resolutions,” she said.

The spokesperson reminded the media that for decades the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir has played a dynamic role in bringing this issue to the forefront at the international level.

“Since 5 August, the OIC Contact Group has played an active role. The OIC Contact Group met at the ministerial level on the sidelines of the UNGA. The OIC IPHRC reported extensively on the human rights situation in IOK. Pakistan remains engaged with OIC at leadership level on the Kashmir cause and several ideas are discussed regularly in this regard,” she added.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is visiting Pakistan next week. She did not give any dates.

“The visit is taking place as per schedule agreed by both sides. Both the sides are working very hard to finalise the substantive programme of this visit. Pakistan and Turkey have very warm, brotherly and cordial relations. We stand by each other in good and in hard times. We support each other on core issues. Pakistan looks forward to the visit of the Turkish president. All details of the visit will be shared in due course,” she commented.

On Afghanistan, the spokesperson said that it is closely following the developments regarding the US-Taliban peace talks.

“We believe that it was a good development that Taliban have showed their readiness to agree to call for reduction in violence. This is a step forward towards the peace agreement. We hope that the US-Taliban peace talks would come to its logical conclusion leading to Intra-Afghan negotiations. This was also the subject of Ambassador Khalilzad’s recent visit to Pakistan,” she said.