Kashmir a 'burning issue': Recep Tayyip Erdogan

NEW YORK: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told the UN General Assembly that the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan was a “burning issue”, and called for resolving it through dialogue.’

In a speech made via video-link to the 193-member Assembly’s landmark 75th session, Erdogan said that steps taken following the abolition of the special status of Jammu-Kashmir further complicated the problem.

“We are in favour of solving this issue through dialogue, within the framework of the United Nations resolutions and especially in line with the expectations of the people of Kashmir,” the Turkish leader added.

The Kashmir dispute between is on the agenda of the UN Security Council, which has adopted at least 11 resolutions since 1948 that call for an impartial plebiscite to determine the wishes of the people in the disputed state.

Earlier on Monday, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir met an informal meeting in New York to discuss the worsening human rights situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

The OIC contact group met an informal meeting in New York at the request of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. The Permanent Representatives of Pakistan, Ambassador Munir and the Permanent Representatives of Saudi Arabia, Niger, Azerbaijan and OIC Observer Mission had attended the meeting.

The Contact Group also asked the UN Secretary-General, the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council to call on India to halt the human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, rescind the unilateral and illegal measures taken on and after 5 August 2019.