India escalating tension on border to divert attention from held Kashmir: FO

ISLAMABAD: Indian forces continuously committing unprovoked ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC) and working boundary to divert the attention of the international community from the core dispute of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK).

The Foreign Office spokesperson, Nafees Zakaria during the weekly press briefing here on Thursday said that India is deliberately escalating tension on the LoC.

He said, only in 2017, India has made 542 times ceasefire violations in which 18 innocent civilians were killed. The Indian atrocities and human rights violations have been intensified in the IoK which needs the attention of the world community, he added.

The spokesperson said that the 44th session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) which held in Abidjan, Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, on July 10-11, 2017, condemned the state terrorism in the IoK and called upon India to implement the United Nations Security Council resolutions on IoK.

Nafees Zakaria said that the resolution which was unanimously adopted by the 56 member Council, noted that Jammu & Kashmir remains the core dispute between India and Pakistan, and its early resolution is imperative for bringing peace to South Asia.

He said that the Council expressed its support to the widespread indigenous movement of the people of Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir for their promised right to self-determination and observed that the just struggle of Kashmiris cannot be equated with terrorism.

The spokesperson said that the Council also called upon the United Nations and the International Community to play their due role in stopping the continuing bloodshed in IoK and for the implementation of the UN Security Council’s Resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir, which guarantee Kashmiris’ right to self-determination through a UN supervised plebiscite.

Nafees Zakaria said that solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris of IoK has been expressed across the world in the form of peaceful demonstrations across the UK, Europe and North America.

Kashmir dispute’s reflection in the UK’s Labour Party’s election manifesto, and in the January 19 debate in the House of Commons of the UK, represent increasing concern over the current unacceptable human rights situation in IoK.

He said that today, on July 13 Kashmiris are observing `Youm-i-Shuhdah’ to commemorate the unprecedented sacrifices rendered by Kashmiris in 1931, adding, “We pay tribute to Shuhdah and express solidarity with Kashmiris in their struggle against Indian unlawful occupation of their territory.”

Replying to a question regarding the missing Pakistani diplomatic staff and another two Pakistani citizens in Afghanistan, the spokesperson said that Pakistan is constantly in touch with Afghan authorities for their early recovery.