News Desk |
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dr Maleeha Lodhi has said that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on the critical situation in the occupied Kashmir has nullified India’s claim that it is an ‘internal matter’.
While welcoming the UNSE meeting, Ambassador Lodhi said that the voice of Kashmiri people is heard after almost five decades. She said that UNSC meeting is a testimony to the fact that Kashmir is an internationally recognized dispute.
On August 16, Dr Lodhi said that the UNSC should resolve Kashmir conundrum as part of its resolutions.
The UNSC members met for the first time after a gap of over 50 years to discuss the Kashmir issue. Reportedly, the member states urged the parties to refrain from taking any unilateral action.
The meeting was convened behind closed doors at the request of China to discuss the Indian government’s recent decision to nullify the special status granted to the occupied Kashmir since the 1950s. Lodhi said Pakistan was “grateful to China for calling this meeting”.
Read more: Maleeha Lodhi slams India for seeking permanent UNSC membership
“The voice of the Kashmiri people has been heard today. The fact that this meeting took place is a testimony to the fact that this is an internationally recognized dispute. This meeting has reaffirmed the validity of the UNSC resolutions on the status of Jammu and Kashmir,” Dr Lodhi told reporters after the meeting. “This meeting nullifies that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter for India.”
She said the Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had conveyed that this was “the first step that we (Pakistan) have taken on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir … the first but not the last step”.
While welcoming the UNSE meeting, Ambassador Lodhi said that the voice of Kashmiri people is heard after almost five decades.
The discussion on the occupied Kashmir issue after 50 years in UNSC has practically turned down India’s stance that the occupied Kashmir was an internal issue and not an internationally recognized dispute.
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Indian hegemonic designs a serious threat to peace: Lodhi
On August 16, Dr Lodhi said that the UNSC should resolve Kashmir conundrum as part of its resolutions.
In a statement issued on Friday, she said Kashmiris have to decide their destiny on their own, adding that the UNSC should take notice of illegal acts of India in the occupied Kashmir. She stressed that the situation in occupied Kashmir was very serious, therefore, the UNSC should play its role in addressing the Kashmir issue as per resolutions passed by it.
Dr Lodhi said Kashmiris have been completely disinherited and now the Indian government was planning a demographic change to take away from them their majority status in their own region.
The discussion on the occupied Kashmir issue after 50 years in UNSC has practically turned down India’s stance that the occupied Kashmir was an internal issue.
Referring to the UN secretary general’s statement that Jammu and Kashmir should not be altered, she said, it was an important statement and the council members will be guided by that.
On August 14, in her remarks at the Independence Day ceremony, she said: “you are not alone. Every Pakistani stands by the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir. We will use every political & diplomatic option to secure justice and freedom for our brothers and sisters in occupied J & K”.
Read more: Dr. Maleeha Lodhi meets UNSC President: India must Cease & Reverse its Actions
In my remarks at our Independence Day ceremony this morning I said :”you are not alone.EveryPakistani stands by the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.We will use every political & diplomatic option to secure justice and freedom for our brothers and sisters in occupied J & K” pic.twitter.com/T4f0FHmPrK
— Maleeha Lodhi (@LodhiMaleeha) August 14, 2019
Global efforts vital to root out organized crimes, terrorism: Lodhi
Earlier in July, Dr Lodhi had said that efforts were needed at the global level to curb organized crimes and terrorism. She had said that the crimes are a key source in assisting the terrorist groups, adding that the international community will have to work out organized planning to counter menaces. “We need to counter the reason rather than symptoms,” she had said.
She had stressed that the international community should pay attention to the ongoing barbarity and state terrorism in Indian Occupied Kashmir. She had made it clear that the UN institutions engaged in eliminating terrorism should not become a tool for promoting the interests of a few countries.
Kashmiris have to decide their destiny on their own, adding that the UNSC should take notice of illegal acts of India in the occupied Kashmir.
Speaking at the UNSC’s open debate on ‘Threats to International Peace and Security: Linkage between International Terrorism and Organized Crime’ debate, ambassador Lodhi had said Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies have played a pivotal role in the anti-drug campaign despite their limited resources.
She pointed out that an integrated and comprehensive anti-terrorism policy has been evolved through the national action plan in Pakistan. She had explained that Pakistan has made remarkable achievements in the war on terror. “We will continue to play our role to sever the vicious link between terrorism and organized crime in our region,” Ambassador Lodhi said.
Read more: Indian hegemonic designs a serious threat to peace: Maleeha Lodhi
“This is critical for our own people, as well as for our neighborhood and indeed for the rest of the world,” she said, adding the crime-terrorist nexus varies across different contexts, with several common areas of confluence, including financing tools, recruiting vulnerable youth and operating in areas outside government control.
“Being one of the principal victims of terrorism, Pakistan’s resolve to eliminate this scourge is clear and unwavering,” she had said.