News Desk
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that it is time for the international community to come forward and fulfill its promises for taking measures to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to practice the right of self-determination as enshrined in the United Nation Security Council resolutions.
The foreign minister said this in a special message on Thursday on the occasion of Right to Self-Determination Day observed on January 5, adding that this day reminded the international community, particularly the United Nations to fulfill its commitment towards the innocent people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
UNSC Resolutions
The foreign minister reminded the international community that on 5 January 1949, the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) had unanimously resolutions adopting the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people through a free, unbiased, and impartial plebiscite under the patronage of the United Nations.
He reminded that the right to self-determination was a basic principle of international law that was upheld by international human rights instruments and has been reaffirmed by the UN General Assembly in its annual resolution on self-determination.
Bilawal further said the last 75 years of India’s occupation of IIOJK were a tragic story of repression of the Kashmiri people, where India had unleashed a reign of terror in Kashmir and denied these troubled people the right to practice their inalienable right to self-determination and lead a life of dignity and peace.
He added that due to its illegal and unilateral implementation of August 5, 2019, India is designing demographic and political changes in IIOJK to convert the innocent Kashmiris into a disempowered minority in their own land.
Calls for International Community
The foreign minister demanded the international community for an immediate end to human rights abuses and a reversal of measures by India to make changes in the demographic structure of IIOJK. He reiterated that Pakistan remained committed to playing its role to assist the right to self-determination of Kashmiris through a free, unbiased, and impartial plebiscite according to the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
He added Pakistan will continue its moral, political and diplomatic support for the Kashmiri people till the realization of this inalienable right.
