Secretary General (Federal) of the Businessmen Panel (BMP), Chaudhry Ahmad Jawad has said Indian government to accept responsibility for the human rights violations being carried out in Jammu and Kashmir. He said it's hard to believe after passing 40 days innocent Kashmir's are at the status of hostage. He said the communications blockade and all curfew restrictions must be lifted immediately to shed light on what is happening in Jammu and Kashmir. "We cannot lose sight of the millions of Kashmiri people yearning to live in peace and dignity,"
Jawad said Kashmir and CPEC are going to be heavily interdependent on each other influencing regional peace and development, their fate and future will depend on how new strategies to be outlined by India, Pakistan and China. He said before CPEC, Kashmir was bilateral dispute between Pakistan and India. With the inception of CPEC, China is now billed as third stakeholder.
Kashmir-CPEC relation has grabbed world attention on serious manner when India triggered volatility by scrapping the special status of Kashmir. He said India did it forcibly when it got angered over the situation that CPEC route passing through Gilgit-Baltistan, about which India claims a disputed area between Pakistan and India, has finally transformed into a hard reality and come what may China is never going to change path of CPEC.
"Indian got panicked on CPEC after Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government released over Rs 183 million for the construction of the first phase of the mega Special Economic Zone approved under the gigantic China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects". Mirpur would have the giant 9th Special Economic Zone (SEZ), over an area of 9500 kanals of land under CPEC.
Similarly the disputed territory of Kashmir is the key point along the One Belt one road (OBOR) as the road passes from the Gilgit-Baltistan which is part of Azad Kashmir with little opposition from the locals. Indian resistance on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is predominantly based on its stance to Gilgit-Baltistan region. Conversely, Beijing position on the matter was neutral to date but simultaneously, India has asked to become a part of CPEC and resolved the Kashmir dispute through negotiation with Pakistan; he said.
However, China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, but that doesn't mean Beijing can turn a deaf ear to the demands of Chinese enterprises in protecting their overseas investments. Given the massive investment that China has made in countries along the One Belt, One Road, China now has also a vested interest in helping resolve regional conflicts including the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan; he added.
He quoted President of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad who has said that occupied territory incurred 3,900 Crore Indian rupees loss in 40 days of lockdown. He further said that vacant houseboats and deserted hotels present a grim picture of the tourism sector in occupied valley. Expressing the deteriorated economic situation of occupied Kashmir, he said hundreds of the youth have lost their jobs as majority of the hotels in the valley have downed their shutters in absence of tourists.