Islamabad
Ambassador of Pakistan to US Asad Khan has said that the United States had an important role to play not only for bringing Pakistan and India to dialogue but also urge the latter to undo its decisions of changing the special status of Kashmir.
‘US, as the preeminent power of the world, I think, has an important role to play in not just trying to help two countries to have a dialogue to resolve this (Kashmir) issue but also to urge India to undo things that they have done during the last one week in unleashing repression, arresting people across the board in turning the valley into a huge prison,’ the ambassador said in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday.
He said the issue of the Indian Occupied Kashmir was very much on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. Even in India’s own constitution, Kashmir had enjoyed a special status. He said India had unilaterally changed the status of a territory that had been recognized by the international community including the United Nations as a disputed territory. ‘And we, as a party to this dispute, have a very serious issue as how India had done it,’ he remarked.
He said one consequence of this action was that the entire region was under a lockdown and India had added its troops presence also in Kashmir turning the whole valley into ‘perhaps the largest prison in the world with 12 million people being seen and watched by almost 900,000 troops.’ ‘This is a serious escalation, I think, right in our neighborhood which we are very concerned about,’ the ambassador maintained.
To a question about what Pakistan could do in this regard, he said the world had seen Pakistan’s restraint and responsibility even during the Pulwama crisis when Indian had actually violated its sovereignty. He said in face of that aggression, Pakistan’s response was very measured and was dictated by restraint.—APP
