Distinguished Permanent Representatives,
Dear colleagues and friends,
Assalam-o-Alaikum,
I am pleased to address this Ambassadorial meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir in New York, today.
During its 47th session in Niamey last November, the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) mandated the Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir to meet regularly and to continue highlighting the Kashmir issue including at the United Nations.
It is gratifying that the New York Chapter of the Contact Group is playing a prominent role in this collective effort.
I wish to commend the brotherly nations of Azerbaijan, Niger, Saudi Arabia and Turkey for effectively articulating the voice of the Ummah in solidarity with the oppressed people of Jammu and Kashmir. The leadership of the OIC Secretary General has been equally instrumental.
The steadfast and resolute support of the OIC, reaffirmed recently at the CFM in Niamey, is a source of great strength to the Kashmiri people in their just and legitimate struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination.
Dear colleagues,
The situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) is not hidden from the international community. In the wake of India’s illegal actions of 5 August 2019, the occupied territory has been shrouded in a ‘veil of darkness’.
The inhuman military siege and communication blockade over occupied Jammu and Kashmir has already lasted 550 days. It is today the largest open-air prison in the world.
Operating under draconian laws with complete immunity, the Indian occupation forces are committing unspeakable atrocities and grave human rights violations against the Kashmiri people. The whereabouts of thousands of Kashmiris including young boys, abducted from their homes by Indian occupation forces, remain unknown.
The advent of winter exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation. The Covid-19 pandemic brought it to a tipping point.
Oblivious to the plight of Kashmiris, the RSS-BJP regime is busy orchestrating what they have ominously called a ‘Final Solution’ for IIOJK.
This ‘Final Solution’ involves, firstly, a brutal campaign to physically, politically and psychologically crush the Kashmiris’ demand for freedom (Azadi). India has deployed over 900,000 troops in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, making it the most militarized zone of the world.
The second part of the ‘Final Solution’ entails changing the demographic composition of IIOJK, to transform it from a Muslim-majority into a Hindu dominated territory. New residency, ownership and domicile laws have been introduced to facilitate a full-scale settler colonial project. Such demographic engineering in the occupied territory is a violation of international law including the 4th Geneva Convention and the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
Thirdly, New Delhi aims to compel Pakistan to accept the Indian-imposed fait accompli in occupied Jammu and Kashmir by the threat or use of force, terrorism, subversion and economic aggression. Following India’s military misadventure against Pakistan in February 2019, Pakistan launched an effective response in exercise of its right to self-defense, resulting in downing of two Indian jets and capture of an Air Force Pilot. Yet, it was Pakistan’s restraint which de-escalated the situation.
The extremist RSS-BJP disinformation may instigate another conflict to retain its authoritarian grip on power and divert attention from its domestic troubles. The recent revelations in the Indian media regarding orchestration of the belligerent action in February 2019 for electoral gains by the BJP lend credence to this possibility. We have repeatedly forewarned the international community of India’s plans to stage another ‘false-flag’ operation against Pakistan.
Distinguished colleagues,
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Government of Pakistan has pursued an intense political and diplomatic campaign on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Barely a month after the formation of our Government, it was my singular honour to present the ‘Kashmir’ case to the international community in my address to UN General Assembly in September 2018.
During Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to New York in 2019, the Kashmir issue remained the centerpiece of his engagements at the UN. The Prime Minister also met the OIC Contact Group’s Foreign Ministers and apprised them of the fraught regional situation in the wake of India’s illegal and unilateral actions. The Prime Minister again updated the international community on the grave situation in IIOJK during his virtual address to the 75th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2020.
Since 5 August 2019, the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir has held three meetings, twice at the Ministerial Level. The Ministerial declarations issued by the Contact Group have sent a strong message of OIC’s support and solidarity to the international community.
The UN Security Council has also considered the matter thrice – in August 2019, January 2020 and August 2020.
It is important to sustain this momentum. A unified political message to India from the OIC would be critical. We should forcefully demand India to rescind its illegal and unilateral actions in IIOJK; halt its egregious human rights violations; provide access to human rights organizations, including the UN fact finding mission and OIC IPHRC; and seek a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UNSC resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people.
I am confident that this meeting of the Contact Group would help identify action-oriented and practical steps to this end.
I wish you success in your endeavours.
I thank you.
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