Pakistan raises Kashmir issue at UN meeting, India fumes

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has raised the issue of human rights violation in Occupied Kashmir at the UN’s committee on information to which India raised an objection.

Pakistan’s delegate Masood Anwar, addressing a session of committee on information on Wednesday, raked up the issue of Kashmir alleging that human rights violations are taking place against the people of Kashmir.

“The world we live today is marred with conflict and strife while we maintain unity in fighting terrorism and extremism. Countering the narrative of this twisted ideologies is imperative,” Anwar said during a general debate on committee on information.

He said the UN’s Department of Public Information (DPI) can play an important role in defusing tensions and promoting interfaith harmony.

“Human rights violations in particular are a matter of serious concern to the international community,” he said.

He urged DPI to highlight situations where “grave violations of human rights are taking place”, especially against the Rohingya, Kashmiris and Palestinians.

India rejected Anwar’s reference to Kashmir, saying his remarks are irrelevant to the work of the committee.

“We have seen another attempt here today to make reference to issues extraneous to the agenda of the committee. We completely reject these remarks as they have no relevance to the work of the Committee,” S Srinivas Prasad, minister in the Indian mission to the UN, said during the session.

In his statement, Prasad said India supports the DPI’s work on counter-terrorism. “India is opposed to all forms of terrorism and believes that effective cooperation among countries is necessary to combat the threat,” he said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Office said Pakistan is actively pursuing the Kashmir cause at all regional and international forums and a conference on the issue will also be held soon.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal at his weekly news briefing in Islamabad said as Indian atrocities continue in Occupied Kashmir, the whole Muslim Ummah stands united with their Kashmiri brethren as has been expressed at the OIC Contact Group`s meeting in Jeddah.