Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday said that the United States has been conveyed to review its policy towards Pakistan in the wake of the country's positive role in bringing Taliban and the US to the negotiation table to resolve the Afghan conflict through meaningful dialogue.
"Pakistan wants a political solution to the Afghan issue and it has been conveyed to America to review its policy towards Pakistan...it was not an easy task to bring both the America and Afghanistan to resolve the issue through a meaningful dialogue," Qureshi said while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The meeting was chaired by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, which also finalised the plan for upcoming events to be organised to commemorate Kashmir Solidarity Day on February 05, 2019 in London. The foreign minister also informed the committee about the recent dialogue process between the Untied States and the Taliban to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan.
He said that Pakistan wants peace in the region and will support all those initiative aimed at bringing peace at regional and global level. He expressed his resolve and said that the government of Pakistan wants China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to succeed, adding that the whole nation, political forces and institutions are on the same page with regard to the project.
Referring to the arrangements made for the upcoming events to commemorate Kashmir Solidarity Day, Qureshi reassured Pakistan's firm commitment for continued vigorous political and moral support to the people of Kashmiri till realisation of their principled demand of right to self-determination.
"There is a complete national consensus on the issue of Kashmir. We should raise a collective voice against the continued worst human rights violations in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir as well as in support of the Kashmiri people's principled stance on the right to self determination," Qureshi told the committee members.
Referring to the recent reports of United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and All-Party Parliamentary Kashmir Group of the British Parliament, he said that these reports have unveiled Indian atrocities in the occupied Kashmir against the innocent people.
He said that the upcoming international conference on Kashmir will be a unique opportunity to highlight Kashmir issue and brutalities of the Indian occupied forces in Indian occupied Kashmir internationally.
He said that the positive developments in recent past helped in highlighting the issue at international level. He referred to his visits to Turkey and Malaysia in which the issue of Kashmir was raised in the joint communiqué.
The foreign minister also invited all the parliamentary political parties and Kashmiri leadership to attend seminar organised at House of Commons on February 04 and exhibition regarding Kashmir on February 05 in London.
He also extended invitation to the members of Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs to attend international conference with regard to Kashmir in London.
The committee will also have interaction with members of the House of Lords and House of Commons, besides leaders of Hurriyat Conference and Pakistani Community.
The committee will also participate in an exhibition to be held in connection with highlighting the inhuman treatment of the people of IOK at the hands of Indian occupied forces.
During the meeting, proposals of the members of the committee were sought to vociferously highlight the miseries of Kashmiri people and convey the global community that the issue of Kashmir needs immediate attention of those who call themselves the champions of human rights.
The chairman of the committee said that the people of Kashmir are being subjugated by the Indian occupation forces for demanding a respectable place in the comity of nations and the world should not turn a deaf ear to their rightful demands.
He further said that all political forces, institutions and the whole nations stand in unison over the issue of Kashmir, resolution of Afghanistan imbroglio and CPEC.
The committee called for resolution of Kashmir dispute in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the people of Kashmir and the UN resolutions. The chairman of the committee termed it a positive step of the Foreign Office to take the parliamentarians on board to effectively highlight the Kashmir issue in London on the upcoming Kashmir Day. The committee decided that a parliamentary delegation would also participate in different events in this regard.