ISLAMABAD, Jan 5 (APP): Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Monday called upon the international community, particularly the United Nations, to honour its long-standing commitment with the Kashmiri people and play its mandated role in ensuring a just and peaceful resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.
In his message on the occasion of Right to Self-Determination Day, the deputy PM said that this day commemorated the landmark adoption of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) resolution on January 5, 1949, a pivotal document that formally guaranteed a free and impartial plebiscite for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“On this “Right to Self-Determination Day”, the Government and people of Pakistan stand in unwavering solidarity with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). We express our solemn commitment to their just struggle to achieve the inalienable right to self-determination.”
Ishaq Dar said this commitment was enshrined through multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and is reaffirmed annually by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolutions upholding the right to self-determination.
The international law, he said recognized the right to self-determination as a cornerstone principle enshrined in the UN Charter. However, the people of IIOJK have been denied this right by India for over seven decades. “The illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India stands as a stark tragedy of our times as the people of IIOJK continue to endure systematic repression, widespread human rights violations and denial of their fundamental rights and dignity.”
In particular, DPM Ishaq Dar said India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 represented a deliberate attempt to consolidate the illegal occupation through demographic engineering of IIOJK. “These measures are designed to systematically transform the Kashmiri people into a disenfranchised community in their own homeland, in clear violation of international law and the principles of self-determination.”
He emphasized that despite enduring decades of oppression and countless sacrifices in IIOJK, the Kashmiri people have remained resolute in their just struggle to achieve the right to self-determination. “We salute their unwavering resilience, courage and perseverance.”
Pakistan, he said reaffirmed extending its moral, political, and diplomatic support to the people of IIOJK until the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination as stipulated in the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.