SRINAGAR: Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday rang up separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to brief him on the “efforts” being made by Islamabad to highlight alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.
A spokesman of Pakistan’s foreign office said in Islamabad that Mr Qureshi told the Mirwaiz that his country is highlighting the “gross human rights violations being perpetrated by the Indian forces in J&K”.
“In this context, he mentioned the report issued by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in June 2018 and the recent APPKG report of UK Parliament,” the spokesman added.
A statement issued by Pakistan’s foreign officer said that Mr Qureshi also emphasised that India should permit the visit of the commission of inquiry, as envisaged in both the reports, and informed the Mirwaiz of upcoming events, including a planned Kashmir conference at the UK House of Commons and an exhibition being held in London on February 4-5, 2019, respectively.
The Mirwaiz confirmed that Pakistan’s foreign minister called him up to say that his country felt concerned over the “deteriorating” human rights situation in J&K.
“He expressed his serious concern over the human rights situation here in Kashmir and said that Pakistan is highlighting it through a concerted endeavour at the international level. Pakistan observes February 5 as ‘Kashmir solidarity day’ every year and in this connection he informed me about the proposed conference and exhibition being held in London,” he said.
