ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira on Tuesday admitted that a cash-strapped Pakistan would not be able to get support of the world community over the Kashmir cause.

Speaking at a seminar titled “A Retrospective Analysis of Kashmir Accession to India” held at Institute of Regional Studies (ISR), he said that an economically and democratically strong Pakistan is needed to effectively plead the case of Kashmiris before the world community.

He also pointed out that Pakistan could not get enough moral support for Kashmir cause in Western countries. On the other hand, he added that they are not only buying the Indian narrative, but also supporting the New Delhi.

“I would like to admit it that a cash-strapped Pakistan which is seeking economic support from the world, would not be able to get the required support for Kashmir cause,” he added.

He said that Pakistan needs to raise the Kashmir issue at the international fora on the grounds of human rights instead of on religious.

“I consider it as an issue of the Kashmiris, a humanitarian issue and an issue of human rights. That’s why we should present it on the international fora on the grounds of a human rights issue. And an unresolved on the UN agenda,” he added.

He said that Pakistan has always stood by oppressed Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for right to self-determination.

“Our successive governments have consistently raised Kashmir dispute at different international forums,” he said, adding that the lingering dispute is alive because of the blood being rendered by the Kashmiri people in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that the current situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir is not acceptable at all, adding that the voice of Kashmiri people cannot be silenced through oppression.

He said that all governments irrespective of their political affiliations had voiced the plight of Kashmiris at home and internationally and that they will continue do so. While there was some semblance of support from the Muslim countries on Kashmir issue, he added that there is a need to bring all the countries together in discrediting the abuse of power in the valley at the hands of a fascist government.

He said that the Hindutva-driven regime has left behind all the extremes of barbarity and there is no denying the fact that the biggest role in keeping the struggle alive is that of the Kashmiri blood and sweat.

Kaira called for keeping the youth aware of the government's efforts for Kashmir and the importance of Kashmir as the unfinished agenda of partition to keep them motivated and save them from hopelessness.

He said that no people could be subdued through the use of brute force in the 21stcentury. He said that Pakistan's key dispute with India is Kashmir and it will keep providing moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris in their just struggle.

Dr Mujahid Gilani, President Kashmir Youth Alliance said in his remarks that while it was appreciable that the current government was paying special attention to Kashmir issue, it was important to realise that a significant part of delivering to the Kashmir cause was to deliver on the promises made by previous governments.

He said that it was time to move beyond rhetoric and to enable the Kashmiris to tell their stories, their way. Dr Gilani further added that the new generation needed to be sensitized about the cultural nuances of Kashmir and the significance that it held for Pakistan.

Farzana Yaqoob, CEO Mantaq, said in her remarks that it was high time that Kashmir was seen not as a responsibility but as a major asset. She said that in the present circumstances, there was a need to establish a bare minimum threshold to retain peace in the valley and then stick to it. A formal policy document detailing various aspects of Pakistan’s Kashmir Policy needed to be developed without any apprehensions, she said.

She further suggested that it was now time that the Government of Pakistan must consider expanding the administrative control and scope of the AJK government for it to effectively carry out tasks that could facilitate the Kashmir cause.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022