ISLAMABAD: In response to the Indian government’s criticism of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s statement that reflected the sentiments and aspirations of the oppressed people of Indian-Held Kashmir (IHK), Pakistan on Friday said that the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir could “not be wished away”.
“No number of statements can alter this historical fact… Pakistan will continue to stand by the people of Jammu and Kashmir and extend its full diplomatic and political support to their movement for freedom from Indian oppression,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
FO Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said that the international bodies concerned had given their word to get Kashmiris their right to self-determination, which was yet to be fulfilled. Foreign powers could not turn a blind eye to the dispute between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, he said.
He said that the murder of Burhan Wani sparked widespread and unprecedented protests across Held Kashmir, which was spontaneous and indigenous, and provided irrefutable evidence of the Kashmiri people’s rejection of Indian occupation.
He said that the Kashmiri people look towards the international community, especially the members of the UN Security Council, to deliver on the pledge to hold a free, fair and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices, to enable them to decide their future.
