UNITED NATIONS, Nov 15 (APP): Emphasizing the International Court of Justice’s crucial role for the peaceful settlement of disputes, Pakistan has drawn attention to the predicament of the people under occupation in Palestine and Kashmir.
” In flagrant disregard of the UN Charter and international law, unilateral and indiscriminate use of force, and violation of international obligations is becoming rampant,” Pakistani delegate Zulfiqar Ali told the UN General Assembly during a debate on the world of ICJ — also called the World Court.
“We are witnessing blatant violation of international law and usurpation of fundamental rights of people under occupation in Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir,” said Zulfiqar Ali, a first secretary in the Pakistani Mission to the UN, as he reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong support for the ICJ’s role.
Amid cataclysmic transformations taking place across the globe, he said, ICJ’s role for the pacific settlement of disputes has gained greater significance.
The ICJ, a major pillar of global governance architecture and one of the UN’s principal organs, is the only international court of a universal character with general jurisdiction.
“Even in these testing times, the ICJ remains seized of pressing issues ranging from territorial and maritime disputes to environment and human rights,” the Pakistani delegate said, pointing out that the trust reposed by the international community in the Court is reflected in an increase in its caseload and its international prestige, citing the July 2024 Advisory Opinion on Israel-Palestine conflict,
“The ICJ’s jurisprudence has unequivocally established that the occupying power is under a legal obligation to enable the occupied people to exercise their right to self-determination and end its unlawful presence in the occupied territory without delay.
“The ICJ’s Advisory Opinions have clarified international law and norms, which must be applied universally, in all similar situations of foreign occupation and denial of the right to self-determination – both with respect to the obligations of the occupying power and the obligations of third states,”he added.
Pakistan, he said, remains committed to a world order underpinned by rule of law, underlining that a just and inclusive global governance flows from observance and enforcement of international law including the UN Charter.
The Pakistani delegate’s pointed words about the situation in Occupied Kashmir drew a response from an Indian representative who claimed that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and commented on the internal situation in Pakistan.
The Pakistani delegate dismissed as “spurious” his Indian counterpart’s claim, saying, “Jammu and Kashmir has never been a part of India; it never will be. As per multiple UNSC resolutions, Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory pending a final solution.”
“The audacity and stubbornness with which India refuses to honour its legal obligations is an abuse of sanctity of this august forum which deserves strongest condemnation.”
Pakistan , he added, needed no advice on democracy, law, justice and fairness from a country which is peddler of lies in international forums, planner of global assassination campaigns and a plotter of terrorism against its neighbours.
Hollow claims of being world’s biggest democracy, Zulfiqar Ali said, cannot hide state-sanctioned pogroms led by RSS-BJP vigilantes against Muslims, Christians and Sikhs in India.
India would do well to fulfil its legal obligations by conducting a UN-mandated plebiscite in Kashmir as per UNSC resolutions, alleviate suffering of its own ethnic minorities, and adopt a path of dialogue and diplomacy, instead of conflict and strife, for a better future and prosperity for a great multitude of humanity, the Pakistani delegate said.y.
