By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday said that the international community doesn’t consider occupied Kashmir conflict as internal matter of India.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the foreign minister said that six political parties of occupied Kashmir had rejected the Indian government’s illegal step of ending special status of the valley by
abrogating Article 370 and forged an alliance to wage a joint struggle aimed at reviving the old status of the territory
This is not something ordinary but an important development as a joint statement issued by these parties bore the signatures of Farooq Abdullah and enjoyed the support of the Congress party, the main opposition party in
India, Qureshi said. He said it is a clear message to the Modi government that the Kashmiris have
stood up against the illegal steps of August 5. India resorted to illegal steps to alter the demographic profile of the disputed territory, he lamented.
The economy of Kashmir has collapsed due to Indian action and increasing human rights violations, he added. FM Qureshi further said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has raised Kashmir matter on every platform for the freedom of innocent people living in this valley. Kashmiris are still fighting for their right of self-determination, he stated.
The Foreign Minister said Kashmiri people’s struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination has taken a new turn with an indigenous political resistance movement picking up in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. To a question, he clarified that Saudi Arabia’s stance on the Kashmir dispute remains unchanged. He expressed the optimism that the intra-Afghan dialogue will pave the way for peace in the neighbouring country.
