FM Qureshi announces formation of 'Kashmir cell' in FO, 'Kashmir desk' in embassies

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi held a Joint Press Conference with the Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (DG-ISPR) Asif Ghafoor after a meeting of the Kashmir Committee, revealed diplomatic efforts for the cause, ARY News reported on Saturday.

FM Qureshi announced the formation of two specific diplomatic formations in the Foreign Office and the chosen, key embassies of Pakistan around the globe to withhold Kashmir centric desks, Kashmir cell, and Kashmir desks, respectively.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi warned that Pakistan army and the nation are ready to defend if India resorts to any misadventure in an attempt to divert the world’s attention from the ongoing lockdown in occupied Kashmir.

A meeting of the country’s top brass chaired by Foreign Minister Qureshi was held on Saturday to discuss the situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir and devise a future plan of action in light of the historic United Nations Security Council (UNSC) moot held a day ago.

Various Pakistani institutions were part of the meeting, which laid out a future course of action over the Kashmir dispute after a historically successful UNSC session on Friday saw the council members urge the parties involved to refrain from any unilateral action that may aggravate the situation.

The meeting, which was announced by Qureshi following the UNSC session, discussed the ongoing security lockdown in occupied Kashmir and the human rights violations being perpetrated by the Indian troops.

The participants also discussed at length India’s continuing ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the lurking threat of a nuclear confrontation between the two neighbours.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan, along with various other federal ministers and special advisers to the prime minister, attended the meeting.

“The Kashmir issue was discussed at the Security Council for the first time today after five decades,” Foreign Minister Qureshi told media after Friday’s session, adding that he wished to express his gratitude to the members of the UNSC, who, he noted, were not swayed by India’s efforts and continued their meeting as scheduled.

The UNSC met behind closed doors at the request of China and Pakistan to discuss the Indian government’s recent decision to revoke the special status of occupied Kashmir.

The council took up the issue of the critical situation in occupied Kashmir after more than 50 years since it was last discussed on the platform, effectively rejecting India’s stance that occupied Kashmir was an internal issue and not an internationally recognised dispute.