ISLAMABAD     -   United Nations has rejected India’s demand for the removal of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) from its official agenda and made it clear that J&K cannot be removed as a longstanding conflict which is placed as an official agenda befor the UN. “The Jammu and Kashmir conflict is very much on the UN agenda and its resolutions are considered international law, which India unilaterally cannot change,” Pakistan’s Permanent Envoy to the United Nations Munir Akram told The Nation in an exclusive interview to The Nation on the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day on phone from New York.

Munir Akram recalled that whatever Indian government did on 5th August 2019 was a blatant violation of the UN resolutions and international law, however, on the UN maps Jammu and Kashmir is still shown as a disputed territory and not under the Indian control.

He disclosed that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari wrote yet another letter to the Security Council President on Kashmir Day which would be now delivered to him on next immediate working day February 6 at the United Nations.

In his letter, the Ambassador said, Bilawal drew the attention of the UN body, on the latest situation in IIOJK by Indian authorities.

When asked why Kashmir dispute is lingering over the past over seven decades as an unresolved issue of the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram regretted that this is all happening due to the double standards of the global powers.

Munir Akram said the United Nations have all powers and tools to get its resolutions implemented and take follow-up action; however, it all depends upon the P-5 countries of the Security Council. He regretted that the international community is having strong trade and economic ties with India which is why India gets skipped from punitive actions for blatantly violating the international law on IIOJK.

When asked about the possibility of resumption of talks between Pakistan and India, Ambassador Munir Akram said before such a move to hold talks, India has to reverse  all actions of 5th August 2019 and Jammu and Kashmir has to be on the agenda of the talks.

He warned India to refrain from altering the status of Jammu and Kashmir by awarding resident certificates to non-Kashmiris from India in order to change the demography. “Pakistan is watching very closely these developments and updating the UN body through a series of official letters on Indian mischievous actions”, Ambassador Akram said. He strongly rejected assertions that the Jammu and Kashmir issue was compromised by the previous Pakistani government, saying that “there would never ever be any compromise on Jammu and Kashmir as it’s strategically and geographically part of Pakistan; any compromise on Jammu and Kashmir means compromise on pakistan".