Kashmir struggle has taken a new turn: FM Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday Kashmiri people’s struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination has taken a new turn with an indigenous political resistance movement picking up in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking at a press conference, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the occupied region’s six political parties rejected Delhi’s Aug 5 move to annex the disputed territory and forged an alliance to wage a joint struggle aimed at reviving the old status of the territory.

This is not something ordinary but an important development as a joint statement issued by these parties bore the signatures of Farooq Abdullah and enjoyed the support of the Congress party, the main opposition party in India, Qureshi said.

He said it is a clear message to the Modi government that the Kashmiris have stood up against the illegal steps of August 5. India resorted to illegal steps to alter the demographic profile of the disputed territory, he lamented.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Prime Minister Imran Khan became Kashmiri people’s voice at every global forum, vehemently raising and drawing world leaders’ attention to the issue.

To a question, he clarified that Saudi Arabia’s stance on the Kashmir dispute remains unchanged. He expressed the optimism that the intra-Afghan dialogue will pave the way for peace in the neighboring country.