'Kashmir issue can be only resolved with third party mediation'

GENEVA: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said third party mediation is the only option to resolve the decades-long Kashmir dispute.

In an interview with Swiss TV, he said Swiss officials have reportedly included Kashmir issue in the agenda of their expected meeting with Indian leaders, which is a welcoming development, Radio Pakistan reported.

The foreign minister said India will have to act upon the United Nations resolutions and international laws.

He urged New Delhi to immediately lift curfew and give the right to live to the people of occupied Kashmir where children are unable to go to their schools and patients are deprived of medical facilities.

Facts about the real situation in the held valley are not coming out due to communications blackout there, Qureshi stressed while appreciating the role of international media and international human rights organizations in highlighting the Kashmir issue.

Regarding Afghanistan, he said Pakistan played a proactive role to bring Taliban to the dialogue table for maintaining peace and stability in the region.

He said Islamabad believes that military option is no solution to the Afghan conflict.

Qureshi is currently in Geneva, where he went to attend the 42nd session of the Human Rights Council.