Call to link trade with India to its respect for rights in Kashmir

LONDON: Speakers comprising British lawmakers and Pakistani MPs, Kashmiri leaders and civil society representatives have emphasised that any trade and economic cooperation with India should be contingent upon its respect for human rights in occupied Kashmir.

The speakers undertook to continue raising their voice at appropriate forums, including the British Parliament and with the UK government while they participated in a Kashmir webinar, organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Self-Determination Movement International (JKSDMI) to mark the International Day of Peace. Speakers expressed serious concern over the ongoing human rights abuses in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Raja Najabat Hussain, JKSDMI Chairman moderated the event, a Pakistan High Commission press release said on Tuesday.

High Commissioner Moazzam Ahmad Khan said the conflict in Kashmir continues to pose grave threat to peace and stability in the region involving two nuclear powers with a history of wars over the dispute. Noting the importance of the International Day of Peace, Khan said the world must understand that peace in the region is inextricably linked to the resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

The participants of the webinar were of the opinion that demographic change in IIOJK is a glaring violation of international laws and would further deprive the Kashmiris of their land and opportunities.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan said that so far as many as 1.7 million non-Kashmiri Hindus have been granted Kashmiri domiciles which would drastically change the demography of the region.

Besides the High Commissioner and the AJK President, the webinar was attended by Debbie Abrahams, Chairperson APPG on Kashmir; Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman Foreign Affairs Committee of Senate of Pakistan; Senator Sherry Rehman; shadow deputy leader of the House of Commons, Afzal Khan; Anthea McIntyre, former MEP and Patron of Conservative Friends of Kashmir in the European Parliament; Yasmin Qureshi; Christian Wakeford; Khalid Mahmood, shadow defence minister; Mike Wood; Tracy Brabin; Senator Seemi Ezdi; Sehrish Qamer, Chairperson JKSDMI Azad Kashmir; Cllr Yasmine Dar, member National Executive Committee of the Labour Party; Umbreen Turk; Ubaid Ul Rehman Qureshi, Asif Jarral and Zeshan Arif.