ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has once again addressed a letter to United Nations Secretary General António Guterres and President UN Security Council Michel Xavier Biang to sensitise the global bodies on India’s illegal actions to change the demographic structure of the illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to a statement of the Foreign Office, the foreign minister has addressed a letter to the president of the United Nations Security Council and the UN secretary general, drawing their attention to the alarming situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), especially India’s ongoing unlawful measures to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory.
In his letter, the foreign minister regretted India’s continued denial of the right of self-determination to the people of IIOJK.
He recalled that the unilateral measures undertaken by India since 5 August 2019 in the IIOJK, including the ongoing systematic efforts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory, were in blatant violation of international law, including the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and
the Fourth Geneva Convention.
He underscored that the Indian Government was making expeditious moves to register as many as 2.5 million new voters in the IIOJK before the upcoming local elections in the region, to meddle with and further alter the demographic make-up of the occupied territory.
The foreign minister reiterated that the only legal basis for the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was the implementation of the relevant Security Council Resolutions stipulating final disposition of the State through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations.
The foreign minister called upon the UN Security Council to take immediate cognisance of the on-going illegal and unilateral actions by India to change the demographic composition of the IIOJK; remind India that Jammu and Kashmir remains an internationally-recognised dispute; and prevail upon India to the let the people of the IIOJK determine their own future.
The foreign minister also urged the UN Security Council and the secretary general to make concerted efforts to promote a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022