Spokesman Report
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has asked the United Nations Security Council to take immediate cognizance of the grave implications of the illegal ‘delimitation’ of IIOJK by India, calling it India’s sinister ploy to reducing the representation of Muslims. As part of Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to internationally highlight the alarming situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) in the wake of India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, the foreign minister addressed the letter to the President of the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary-General on illegal “delimitation” exercise in IIOJK by India.
The letter apprises them, in particular, of India’s sinister ploy of reducing the representation of Muslims through the unlawful ‘delimitation’ exercise in IIOJK. The foreign minister urged the UN Security Council to remind India that Jammu and Kashmir remained an internationally recognized dispute pending resolution, and that India should refrain from bringing about any illegal demographic changes in the occupied territory in contravention to international law, the Geneva Conventions, and India’s own obligations under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions;
He asked the UNSC to compel and counsel India to halt its human rights abuses against the people of IIOJK and cease forthwith the endemic political persecution and economic exploitation of the Kashmiris;
The letter also asked the UNSC to prevail upon India to let the people of IIOJK determine their own future through a free and fair plebiscite under the United Nations auspices as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The foreign minister underscored that these illegal measures constituted flagrant violation of international law including the UN Charter and the relevant Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and were ipso facto illegal and null and void.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has congratulated Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on taking oath as the new Foreign Minister of Pakistan. In a message sent on April 29, Wang Yi said that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners. He said the China-Pakistan friendship, under the careful nurturing of successive leaders of the two countries and with the full support of their people, has stood the test of the changing international landscape and always been rock solid, showing ever stronger resilience and vitality, according to China Radio International (CRI).
Wang Yi said in the current era, the effects of the Ukraine crisis are also being felt in view of the great changes of the century and the epidemic situation. China-Pakistan strategic importance is becoming more prominent. He said no matter what changes take place in the international situation, China will always give priority to Pakistan in neighbouring diplomacy, and will continue to fully support Pakistan’s efforts to safeguard its sovereignty, security and national dignity as well as unity and prosperity in Pakistan. China will continue to give full support and will fully support Pakistan to play a more important role in global and regional affairs, he added.