World has rejected India’s claim that Kashmir conflict is cross-border terrorism: Pakistan

Pakistan also said India has scuttled all opportunities for dialogue on the Kashmir issue in the past two decades.

Pakistan claimed on Tuesday that the international community has rejected India’s contention that the turmoil in Kashmir is primarily a cross-border terrorism issue, blaming New Delhi for “scuttling” all opportunities for a “meaningful” dialogue to resolve the issue.

Sartaj Aziz, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's adviser on foreign affairs, speaks during a news conference in Kabul. (Reuters File Photo)

Pakistan Prime Minister’s foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz, in a hard-hitting statement, said Islamabad has always welcomed the endeavours aimed at addressing the human rights issues in the Valley and the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

“India’s contention that the Kashmir issue is, primarily, an issue of cross-border terrorism, is a claim that no one in the world is prepared to accept today,” Aziz said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

He also welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s suggestion of having a multilateral dialogue to resolve the issue.

The recent offer of Erdogan to strengthen the dialogue process among the stakeholders for resolving the Kashmir issue and his call for a multilateral approach to settle the issue must be welcomed, Aziz said.

He alleged that the Indian government has broken its “own record of brutality” in Kashmir by “indiscriminately killing” unarmed Kashmiri protesters.

Aziz said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Declaration’ adopted by the 13th Summit in Istanbul, in April last, “out-rightly rejected India’s attempts of equating the Kashmiris’ freedom struggle with terrorism.”

“Political analysts and members of civil society from across the globe have concluded that the large scale uprising, which is going on in Kashmir, involving mostly young unarmed Kashmiris confronting fully armed Indian forces, clearly shows that Kashmir is a burning issue requiring urgent international attention,” Aziz said.