Qureshi for preventing regional integration from India's expansionist policies

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday called for efforts to prevent regional integration from being held hostage by India through its expansionist policies.

Speaking at a webinar hosted by Islamabad Policy Institute (IPI) on "Annexation of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir by India: Lessons for regional security", Qureshi also warned that the effectiveness of the post-World War international structures was eroding, and states would have to rely on their own strengths, and take bold steps to rectify historic mistakes.

The webinar was also addressed by speakers from occupied Jammu and Kashmir, China, Turkey, Iran, Bangladesh, and Nepal, in addition to local think tanks and scholars.

"The world is more uncertain, less predictable, and for these reasons, perhaps more dysfunctional. The buffers and support systems of international organizations and international law, that helped buttress the post-World War growth and prosperity may no longer deliver desired outcomes," Qureshi said.

He said the states would increasingly be left to fall back upon their own devices and bank upon their own strengths. While challenges would persist, there were now opportunities and the necessary political space to take bold steps to correct past mistakes, he added.

In an Asian century, he added that "we will have to rely on the traditional Asian wisdom, to illuminate the way forward."

Qureshi called upon the world to take a leaf from Pakistan's four-point roadmap for dealing with India on the Kashmir issue. The roadmap includes confronting, exposing and pushing back against India; deterring its expansionist designs; "dousing the fire"; and adapting to prevent regional integration from being held hostage by India, he added.

Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari said annexation of an internationally-recognised disputed territory was a war crime, while changing demography in an occupied region was yet another war crime.

She warned the international community against the dangerous implications of pursuing a policy of appeasement towards Modi and compared it with the British appeasement of Hitler's regime.

She proposed several steps for strengthening Pakistan's Kashmir diplomacy, which included greater emphasis on lawfare, highlighting crimes against women and children, greater appeal to international women NGOs, and seeking establishment of an independent commission to probe the human rights violations in the occupied Kashmir.

She also backed the idea of the possibility of Kashmiris raising their humanitarian concerns at international criminal court. Mazari further suggested taking a fresh look at the "Good Friday Agreement" as a possible model for conflict resolution and promoting Kashmiri culture of resistance.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020