UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called on the UN Security Council to “actively” promote a just settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with its resolutions and the Kashmiri people’s wishes, warning that durable peace in South Asia cannot be achieved without the resolution of this decades-old problem.

Speaking in the UN General Assembly’s Special Political and Decolonization Committee, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said that while Pakistan seeks “peaceful and cooperative” relations with India, peace cannot be built on injustice and denial of rights.

“India must end its human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and without delay rescind all unilateral and unlawful measures taken since 5 August 2019,” he said in the general debate, referring to New Delhi’s annexation of Jammu and Kashmir six years ago.

While the historic Declaration on Decolonization proclaims that ‘all people’ have the right to self-determination, the Pakistani envoy pointed out that the people of Palestine and the Kashmiri people remain deprived of that inalienable right.

“The tragedy of Palestine continues to cast a long shadow over the credibility of the international order and the United Nations, he said, highlighting the large-scale death and destruction in Gaza. “Generations of Palestinians have endured occupation, dispossession, blockades, and repeated cycles of violence, the latest being the tragedy in Gaza that has unfolded before us over the last two years.”

Lasting Middle East peace required the realization of the right of self-determination by the Palestinian people, and the establishment of a viable, independent, and contiguous State of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

“Occupation must end, for it is the root cause of instability in the region,” Ambassador Asim Ahmad added.

The recent consultations, led by the US President Donald Trump with Arab and OIC leaders, and the announcement of a plan mark important developments that have been widely acknowledged, he said, hoping for an immediate ceasefire and end to the war in Gaza, unimpeded humanitarian access, and a credible political pathway toward Palestinian statehood.

Referring to the denial of self-determination in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the Pakistan envoy pointed out that it is one of the oldest unresolved items on the UN agenda, sanctified in Security Council resolutions which explicitly prescribe that the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir would be decided through an impartial plebiscite under UN auspices in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

“Both India and Pakistan accepted these commitments. Under Article 25 of the UN Charter, implementation of these resolutions is binding”.

For more than seven decades, he said, India has evaded its obligations through repression, deception, and brute force.

Kashmir has become the most heavily militarized zone in the world, with over 900,000 Indian occupation forces deployed in the region, the Pakistani envoy said.

“This military occupation has unleashed a reign of terror: extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detentions, and collective punishment.

The entire legitimate Kashmiri leadership has been imprisoned since 2019, with several leaders passing away in custody.”