Foreign Secretary, Tehmina Janjua summoned the Indian High Commissioner today to strongly protest against the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ Press Release related to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s telephone call to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
Foreign Secretary stressed that Pakistan’s reachout to the Hurriyat leadership was in line with its stated, publicly declared, time honoured policy of extending political, diplomatic and moral support to the legitimate Kashmiri struggle for the right to self-determination.
The Foreign Secretary emphasized that the disputed status of Jammu & Kashmir is internationally accepted and pends resolution on the agenda of the UN Security Council to date due to Indian intransigence. Pakistan as a party to the Kashmir dispute is deeply concerned about the deplorable state of human rights in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Foreign Secretary emphasized that the Indian reaction was only an indication of domestic politics being allowed to override India’s international obligations and violate international law for electioneering and that Pakistan should not be dragged into Indian elections for seeking votes.
Islamabad
31 January 2019
