ISLAMABAD: A spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Office said on Sunday that any suggestion linking Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s comments on the G-20 summit in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) with a threat of violence was not only malicious but also extremely irresponsible.
In response to inquiries from the media regarding a video clip suggesting that Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari threatened India over the conduct of a G-20 meeting in IIOJK, the spokesperson stated in a press statement, “It is an attempt to shift focus from the foreign minister’s key message of resolving conflicts through dialogue and in accordance with international law and UN security council resolutions.”
“The foreign minister stressed the essential relevance of pertinent UN Security Council resolutions for a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir problem in a number of public statements during his recent visit to India. “Clearly, his argument was based on international law.”
The spokesperson also emphasised that journalistic standards must be maintained while reporting on delicate interstate issues.
The spokesman added that Pakistan’s viewpoint on the G-20 Tourism Working Group meeting in IIOJK was previously stated in a news statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 11.
Pakistan has already expressed its outrage in response to India’s intention to host the G-20 Tourism Working Group conference in Srinagar from May 22–24, the spokesperson said.
“It was also deemed “equally disconcerting” that two more sessions of the Y-20 consultative forum will be held in Leh and Srinagar in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).”
“India’s reckless action is the most recent in a string of self-serving actions to continue its unlawful occupation of Jammu and Kashmir in flagrant defiance of the UN Security Council’s resolutions, the UN Charter, and international law. According to the previous April 11 news release, Pakistan vigorously opposes these actions,” the spokesperson said.
“Such occurrences could not conceal the fact that Jammu and Kashmir was a recognised international conflict that had been on the UN Security Council’s agenda for more than 70 years.”
“This included illegal measures to alter the demographic makeup of the occupied region. Nor could such activities divert the international community’s attention from India’s brutal suppression of the people of IIOJK,” the spokesperson said.
—APP
