ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan on Thursday expressed deep concern over the human rights violations in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) and called upon the international community to take notice of the situation.
“Pakistan is deeply concerned at the ongoing action by the Indian security forces aganst helpless Kashmiris in Handwara, Jammu and Kashmir,” Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in a weekly press here at the Foreign Office.
The Spokesman mentioned the incident where four innocent Kashmiris were martyred and said the international community should take steps for the resolution of Kashmir dispute though a United Nations-supervised plebiscite.
He said Pakistan had been raising the issue at international fora, pertaining to torture, extra judicial killings and detention in Indian Held Kashmir.
He mentioned that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Contact Group on Kashmir on the sidelines of the ongoing 13th OIC Summit in Istanbul, had also expressed continued support to the people of Indian Held Jammu and Kashmir for their right to self-determination.
He said the Contact Group, comprising Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, stressed for resolving the Kashmir issue in accordance with the resolutions of UN Security Council.
About the status of foreign secretary-level talks between Pakistan and India, the spokesman said the two sides were in touch with each other and modalities were being worked out.
He recalled the decision about holding of talks was taken during the surprise visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Pakistan in last December on his way back from Afghanistan.
On the prospects of next meeting of Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) on Afghanistan, the Foreign Office Spokesman said the four countries including Pakistan, China, Afghanistan and the United States had agreed for the earliest and mutually convenient dates for the meeting.
About the recent visit of US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Olson to Pakistan, he said during his meeting with Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry, the regional situation and QCG meeting came under discussion.
He said Pakistan believed that the politically negotiated process was the best solution for Afghanistan’s peace and it had been making serious efforts in this regard.
The Spokesman said the investigations by Joint Investigation Team on Pathankot incident were underway.
He mentioned that the visit of Pakistani JIT to India on March 27 was in the context of the cooperative approach being pursued by the Pakistan government as part of its commitment to effectively fight terrorism.
Following the arrest of Indian spy Kalbhushan Yadev, he said the investigations by agencies were going on in due course.
He said Iran in response to Pakistan’s request for cooperation in hitting the spy network had expressed the commitment at highest level that it would never allow its soil to be used against Pakistan.
The Spokesman said Pakistan’s nuclear capability was for self-defence and it remained ready to discuss arms control and restraint measures with India.
“Pakistan’s conventional, military and nuclear capability is solely for self-defence and we are committed to credible minimum deterrence,” he said in response to a question on India acquiring predators for surveillance.
He stressed that the limited resources of Pakistan and India should be channeled to meeting the social needs of their people.
The Spokesman issued a travel advisory for Pakistani citizens to refrain visiting Libya, Iraq, Syria and Yemen in view of the ongoing security situation.
He mentioned that out of 45 Pakistanis stranded in China due to land sliding, nine had been repatriated back to country.
