NEW YORK: The Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has a written a letter to the President of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Mr. Vassily A. Nebenzia and the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, reminding the world body of its responsibility to resolve the longstanding issue of Jammu & Kashmir, and urging India to lift the curfew in the besieged valley.
Following is the full text of the letter;
“As you are aware, on 5 August 2019, acting illegally and unilaterally, India revoked the special status of Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) in an attempt to further consolidate its illegal occupation of the territory. These actions, in start violation of the UN Security Council Resolutions, seek to alter the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu & Kashmir and attempt to change the demography of IOJ&K, in order to convert the Muslim majority of the territory to a minority, to preempt the UN administered Plebiscite.
Indian actions were preceded by a massive security clamp-down (which continues to date), with the deployment Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) of almost 200,000 additional Indian occupation forces, bringing the total tally of Indian forces in IOJ&K to about 880,000. The international community, including UN Security General, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and reputable international media and human rights organizations continue to report on the intensified human rights violations in IOJ&K, including the arrest/detention of Kashmiri leaders, continuing use of pellet guns by Indian occupation forces, prevailing communications blockade (suspension of landlines, mobiles, internet), suppression of freedom of expressions, kidnapping of scores of young boys to coerce their families into submission and use of rape as a tool of state suppression, reducing IOJ&K to the largest prison in the world. There are continuing reports of shortage of essential medicines and food items, including baby food.
Pakistan, through its letter addressed to the UN Secretary General, the President of the General Assembly, the President of the Security Council, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 1, 6, 13, 21 and 26 August 2019, informed the international community of the Indian actions violating the numerous UNSC Resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir and the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian emergency in IOJ&K as well as the danger it poses to regional peace and security.
Jammu & Kashmir remains as internationally recognized disputed territory. Between 1948 and 1971, the Security Council adopted 18 resolutions addressing Jammu and Kashmir and related issues. These resolutions envisage that ‘the final disposition of the State of Jammu & Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of people expressed through the democratic method of a fee and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations’ and clearly stress that any action taken or attempted by a constituent assembly “to determine the future shape and affiliation of the entire State or any part therefore”, or any action by the parties, “would not constitute a disposition of the State”.
The recent Indian actions to abrogate the special states of IOJ&K, partitioning it into two territories, to diminish their legislative competence, and to create conditions that will result in fundamental demographic changes in the territories, are thus in clear violation of the UNSC Resolutions.
Not only are India’s actions in start violation of its international commitments but they also contravene the numerous bilateral commitments, including the Simla Agreement, Lahore Declaration (1999), Islamabad Declaration (2004), Joint Statement of the National Security Advisers & Foreign Secretaries of both countries (December 2015) and Pakistan India Joint Statement (December 2015) which clearly acknowledges the disputed status of IOJ&K and reaffirm commitment of peaceful resolution of the same.
Pakistan is committed to pursuing peaceful avenues to address the growing crises. There are increasingly limited and closed off by India’s unwillingness to engage (bilateral dialogue remains suspended unilaterally by India since 2015, despite Pakistan’s consistent position that the only way to resolve outstanding disputes, including the Jammu & Kashmir disputes, is through peaceful and diplomatic means), and a reluctance in some quarters internationally to act on the part of those whose engagement would assist in drawing the world back from the growing peril, set in motion by Indian action of 5 August 2019, that it now faces in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.
These Indian actions pose grave risks for regional peace and stability. The Indian occupation force continue to escalate tensions at the Working Boundary and Line of Control (Indian ceasefire violations resulted in 54 shahadats in 2017, 46 in 2018 and 26 shahadat to date in 2019) to divert international attention from Indian atrocities in IOJ&K.
Peace and stability in South Asia will remain elusive without the resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute, which is long delayed due to Indian intransigence. The people of Jammu and Kashmir await the “free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations” as agreed to by India and Pakistan and decided by the Security Council, 70 years ago. Pakistan calls on the Security Council, urgently to act decisively to this end.”
Letter to the President UNSC & Fact Sheet on Jammu and Kashmir
With the letter, a detailed fact sheet was also attached which reproduces all relevant documents including the UN Security Council resolutions, bilateral agreements, relevant letters to the UN in a sequential manner, laying out the international legality and Pakistan’s legal case on Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
