India violated Simla accord by revoking special status of occupied Kashmir: FM Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi here on Wednesday said that India violated Simla agreement by revoking special status of occupied Kashmir, ARY News reported.

Addressing the joint session of the parliament in Islamabad, Qureshi said that the government decided to downgrade its diplomatic relations with New Delhi and suspend all bilateral trade.

In response to India’s recent actions in occupied Kashmir, Qureshi said that Indian’s illegal move to scrap Article 370 highlighted Kashmir issue across the globe.

He said that New Delhi’s August-5 move turned Kashmir’s matter into an international issue and added that India had been making diplomatic efforts to conceal the Kashmir’s conflict.

FM Qureshi said that Pakistani nation will observe Independence Day in solidarity with the Kashmiri people and 15 August will be observed as black day.

The minister said that around 0.9 million Indian troops were deployed in occupied Kashmir to suppress Kashmiris’ indigenous and just struggle for self determination.

Qureshi said, “We should not keep silence over the illegal step of the Indian government. The political leadership of Kashmir has not accepted the illegal decision of the Indian government led by prime minister Narendra Modi.”

Criticizing the Indian government, the foreign minister said that cluster bombs were used, in violation of the international laws, against civilians along the line of control by the Indian forces.

He said that Indian troops were committing atrocities and involved in grave human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.