Pakistan welcomes UN rights report on Kashmir dubbed by India as ‘motivated’

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative at the UN Office at Geneva endorsed the UN’s call for a final political solution of the J-K dispute through meaningful dialogue in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

Pakistan on Wednesday welcomed the recommendation by the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights to establish a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to investigate alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

A police officer fires a tear gas shell towards protesters in Srinagar. (Reuters File)

The Foreign Office (FO) in Islamabad said that Pakistan’s Permanent Representative at the UN Office at Geneva Ambassador Farukh Amil made the statement at the UN Human Rights Council.

He stressed that excessive use of force, indiscriminate killing of civilians and blindings by pellet guns in Jammu and Kashmir must be investigated, the FO said.

Referring to the UN human rights report, he stated that Pakistan had long sought the UN’s sustained focus on Jammu & Kashmir and the latest report reaffirms Pakistan’s well known position on Jammu & Kashmir.

“The COI is consistent with Pakistan’s several calls to this effect since 2016, even as India has continued to ignore legitimate demands for a credible probe mechanism,” Amil said.

He also endorsed the UN’s call for a final political solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute through meaningful dialogue in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

The latest UN report is a reminder of this internationally recognised dispute and the urgency of its settlement, both to protect human lives and promote peace, the FO said.

The UN Human Rights Council is holding its 38th session in Geneva.

Last week, the UN released its first-ever report on alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and demanded an international probe into it, evoking a sharp reaction from India which termed the document as “fallacious and motivated”.