Pak fails to convince international community over Kashmir issue: Interior Minister

Islamabad: Pakistan Interior Minister Brig Ijaz Ahmed Shah has brought a major embarrassment to Prime Minister Imran Khan and his coterie of ministers with his admission that Islamabad has failed to get support from the international community over its stand on Kashmir issue.

Shah blamed Pakistan "ruling elite" including Khan for "destroying" the image of the country.

"People do not believe us... in the international community. We say they (India) impose curfew and are not giving medicines to people of Jammu and Kashmir. People do not believe us but they believe them. The ruling elite has destroyed the country. The ruling elite of this country destroyed the name. People thought we are not a serious nation," he said, during a talk show on Pakistani news channel Hum News on Wednesday.

When asked whether Khan, Benazir Bhutto, Pervez Musharraf and others were a part of the ruling elite, the former spy chief said: "Everyone is responsible. Pakistan should now do a soul searching."

Ijaz's remarks came a day after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, during a UNHRC session in Geneva, claimed that India has transformed Jammu and Kashmir into the largest "caged prison in this planet" after the abrogation of Article 370 and that the human rights were being "trampled with impunity" there.

India had rejected Qureshi's allegations and hit back saying a "fabricated narrative" on Jammu and Kashmir has come from "the epicentre of global terrorism" and from a nation, which conducts cross-border terrorism as a form of 'alternate diplomacy.

Islamabad has been left red-faced after its desperate attempts to internationalise the Kashmir issue fell flat. The country has found itself isolated after being snubbed at the United Nations, as well as by countries like the United States, France, and Russia.

India's decision has been hailed internationally with several countries calling the move as India's internal matter even as Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the issue.

Islamabad has found itself completely isolated despite desperate attempts aimed at internationalising the issue.

Pakistan has approached various world leaders, including Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, French President Emmanuel Macron and the Jordanian King Abdullah II to seek their interventions into the issue, but in vain.

However, Pakistan has been told to engage bilaterally with India to end tensions. India has repeatedly made it clear that talks with Pakistan are only possible after Islamabad stops sponsoring terror.