Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad reaffirms Pakistan’s support for Kashmiris

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Alternate Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad this week reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the Kashmiris right to self-determination.

“On #KashmirSolidarityDay we reaffirm our full support for the Kashmiri people in their just struggle for self-determination promised to them by the UN,” the envoy said.

He added: “International community must proactively promote peaceful settlement of the J&K dispute in accordance with relevant UNSC resolutions.”

This week Pakistan observed Kashmir Solidarity Day, vowing to continue its “moral” and “diplomatic” support to the pro-independence movement in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir.

Human chains, rallies, and protest demonstrations were held across the country to mark the day, which has been an annual affair since 1990 amid lingering tensions with longtime rival India on the Kashmir dispute.

The day, a national holiday, began with special prayers in the mosques for the liberation of Kashmir. A minute’s silence was observed throughout the country.

Thousands of people formed human chains on roads connecting the capital Islamabad to the Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The main rally was held near the Parliament House in Islamabad, which was attended by a large number of people, including federal ministers, lawmakers, women, students, and Kashmiri leaders.

Diplomats, students, and civil society members attended another rally taken out from the Foreign Ministry.

Rallies, conferences, and seminars were also held in all four provincial capitals – Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta –, in addition to other big cities and remote towns, to denounce the “’human rights violations” in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir.

In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu Kashmir, Bagh, Rawlakot, Kohlu, Mirpur, and other districts, human chains were formed to express solidarity with the pro-freedom struggle.