WASHINGTON (Kashmir English): Speakers at a seminar held at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington have asked the international community to push for a settlement of the decades-old Kashmir dispute.
Additionally, they reaffirmed their unwavering support to the oppressed people of Indian Illegally-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Entitled “Longstanding, Unresolved, and Unfinished Agenda: Important Aspects of the Kashmir Issue,” the seminar participants highlighted key security, legal and political dimensions of the Kashmir dispute.
Ramifications of unresolved Kashmir dispute
Drawing the global community’s attention to the ramifications of the issue being unresolved, the individuals underscored India’s persistent refusal to honour its commitments, and the unfulfilled guarantees made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir through the worldwide community.
Implications of India’s unilateral acts in 2019, which destabilised the region, also earned criticism from the individuals.
The 2-session seminar drew a diverse audience, consisting of Pakistani-people, mainly from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, members of civil society, media representatives, and college students from numerous universities throughout Washington, D.C.
A prominent panel of speakers including international law experts Ali Unar, Arif Hyder Ali, and Mowahid Hussain Shah; Ambassador Touqir Hussain, Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University; and Lars Rise, Former Norwegian MP. Ch Muhammad Yasin, Dr. Zulfiqar Kazmi, Founder of The Common Grounds USA; President PPP AJK also addressed the participants and took forward the discussion on the Kashmir issue.
Special messages from Pakistan’s President and the prime Minister were read out at the event, followed by a documentary featuring the struggle of the people of IIOJK.
In his remarks, Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh recommended for diplomacy to be the quality way to resolving global problems, inclusive of the longstanding Kashmir dispute. He stated: “The long-lasting settlement of the Kashmir dispute and a wish for lasting peace in the region may be executed via diplomacy.”
Ambassador Sheikh in addition stated that there has been a need to create a situation in which India and Pakistan can have a meaningful and consequential talks. “That is the only way ahead.”
Highlighting the similarities of the conflicts in Palestine and Kashmir, the Ambassador appealed to the world community to refocus its interest and play a proactive function in resolving those long-standing disputes.
“The state of affairs in Kashmir and Palestine gives us this opportunity to accord them a comparable situation. And if they are both taken together owing to a common genesis, each will reinforce or strengthen the other one,” he added.
He said that the steps taken by the Indian government on and after August 5, 2019, are not legally tenable.
Speaking on the occasion Alumnus of UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), Ali Unar said that owing to trust deficit between Pakistan and India, important countries, private sector and global business community should be involved, highlighting the economic benefit of a peaceful Kashmir.
