Srinagar/May,2: While Advisor on Foreign Affairs to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff on Tuesday described the Jammu and Kashmir dispute as “a burning issue requiring urgent international attention”, the foreign office spokesman in Islamabad welcomed Erdogan’s offer to help resolve K- issue
Sartaj Aziz, the Advisor on Foreign Affairs to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, also said India’s bid “to portray the indigenous uprising in Kashmir as terrorism has been rejected” globally.
The Foreign Office issued Aziz’s statement, which welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call for a multilateral approach to settle the Kashmir dispute.
The Indian stand that it was ready for a dialogue with Pakistan was no longer credible because India had scuttled all such opportunities in the past two decades “to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN Security Council’s relevant Resolutions”.
“India’s contention that Kashmir issue is, primarily, an issue of cross-border terrorism, is a claim that no one in the world is prepared to accept today,” he added.
Aziz’s statement came amid worsening ties between India and Pakistan following New Delhi’s charge that the Pakistani military killed and “mutilated” the bodies of two of its soldiers on Monday.
Aziz accused India of committing “brutality” in Jammu and Kashmir “by indiscriminately killing over 100 young unarmed Kashmiri protestors” and blinding hundreds of Kashmiris last year.
“Nobody believes that thousands of young boys and girls, who have been agitating ceaselessly since July 2016, are terrorists.”
Meanwhile Pakistan foreign office spokesman welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s suggestion of having a multilateral dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue, an offer India has virtually rejected.
Ahead of his India visit, Erdogan, during a TV interview, had said, “We should not allow more casualties to occur (in Kashmir). By having a multilateral dialogue, (in which) we can be involved, we can seek ways to settle the issue once and for all.”
“Pakistan welcomes the Turkish President’s offer to strengthen the dialogue process among the stakeholders for resolving the Kashmir issue,” the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement last night.
Erdogan’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday came in the shadow of his comments on Kashmir that were not well received in India.
The remarks were contrary to the position of India, which maintains that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral matter between it and Pakistan, and that there is no scope for a third party mediation.
In a clear message to Erdogan, India yesterday asserted that the Kashmir issue is an Indo-Pak bilateral matter, essentially due to cross-border terrorism.
However, Pakistan welcomed Erdogan’s remarks, saying, “Pakistan has always welcomed the statements and endeavours aimed at addressing the human rights issues” in Kashmir and the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue.
The situation in Kashmir, especially in terms of human rights violations and implications for the regional and global security, due to the unresolved dispute, have raised serious concerns across the globe, the Foreign Office said.
It said that recently, the UN, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the international community, including the US, have urged the early resolution of the Kashmir issue given the perils for the regional peace and security.
