ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said India should be forced to rescind its illegal and unilateral actions in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and move towards a peaceful settlement of Kashmir dispute as per the UNSC resolutions.

Addressing the ambassadorial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir via video link, the Foreign Minister commended the brotherly nations of Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Niger for effectively articulating the voice of the Ummah in solidarity with the oppressed people of Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the steadfast and resolute support of the OIC, reaffirmed recently at the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Niamey, is a source of great strength to the Kashmiri people in their just and legitimate struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination.

The Foreign Minister stressed it is important to sustain this momentum. A unified political message to India from the OIC would be critical. He said we should forcefully demand India halt its egregious human rights violations against innocent Kashmiris and provide access to human rights organizations in the illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

He said under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan has pursued an intense political and diplomatic campaign on Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Referring to the Indian atrocities, the Foreign Minister said the illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir has been shrouded in a veil of darkness in the wake of illegal actions of 5th August 2019.

He said the inhuman military siege and communication blockade there has already lasted five hundred and fifty days. He said Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir is today the largest open air prison in the world.

He said India has introduced controversial legislation to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory in violation of international law including the 4th Geneva Convention and the UN Security Council Resolutions.