ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Friday told the United Nations that India’s attitude was a direct threat to regional and global peace.
In a letter to Anatolio Ndong Mba - President UN Security Council - Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi drew attention of the world body towards gravity of regional security situation created by threats of use of force by India against Pakistan.
In his letter to Anatolio Ndong Mba, Foreign Minister Qureshi said the prevalent situation posed direct threat to global peace and security.
He said immediately after the Pulwama attack in Occupied Kashmir on 14th of this month, India began accusing Pakistan without any investigation and New Delhi started threatening Pakistan of retaliation.
Qureshi said the source of baseless Indian allegations was a social media video of dubious content. He said India was giving the name of its speculations as facts, in an effort to blame Pakistan for its operational and policy failures.
The Foreign Minister said India was deliberately pursuing an aggressive policy to make the environment distasteful due to its internal political reasons.
He said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was stoking negative sentiments among his people against Pakistan for political compulsions.
Qureshi added that Indian authorities were threatening to stop the flow of river waters to Pakistan which can jeopardise the agreed Indus Water Treaty between the two countries.
Rejecting the Indian allegations on Pulwama attack, the Foreign Minister said Pakistan had offered to hold investigation into the incident on the provision of concrete evidence.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, had offered India for negotiations on terrorism and other conflicts between the two countries. “Pakistan has also expressed the resolve to defend itself in case of Indian aggression,” he added.
Qureshi said that Kashmiri people were being subjected to torture for raising their demand of right to self-determination which is their inalienable right. He said the UN Security Council resolutions give the people of Jammu and Kashmir the right to plebiscite for determining their future.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Friday urged the United States to take notice of the human rights violations in held Kashmir.
In a meeting with US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, Samuel Brownback here, Foreign Minister Qureshi drew attention of Ambassador Brownback to the systematic persecution and suppression of fundamental rights including religious freedom of the Kashmiri people at the hands of Indian forces.
He urged Ambassador Brownback to take notice of egregious violations of human rights and religious freedom of minorities in India and the people in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.
Welcoming Ambassador Brownback to his first visit to Pakistan since assuming office, the Foreign Minister said Pakistan had always been a partner of international cooperation on the issues of religious freedom.
He said that the Constitution of Pakistan protected rights of all minorities in Pakistan. He added that Pakistan, as part to 7 out of 9 human rights treaties, was fully cognizant of its commitments to respect and protect minorities.
He also said that Pakistan led initiatives to combat religious intolerance and promote interfaith harmony have been endorsed by the UNGA and Human Rights Council.
Expressing concern over Pakistan’s designation as Country of Particular Concern by the US State Department, he highlighted that the designation did not appear to be in sync with the ground reality.
Pakistan is a multi-religious and pluralistic society where people of diverse faiths and denominations live together. Pakistan has ensured constitutional and legal protection and freedom to all its citizens’ irrespective caste, creed or religious.
The two sides agreed to work together to devise a strategy to get Pakistan out of the list of Countries of Particular Concern. The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan will designate a focal person to interact with Ambassador Brownback to implement the strategy.
The Foreign Minister said that higher judiciary of the country has made landmark decisions to protect the properties and places of worships of minorities.
Meanwhile, Qureshi called his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavusoglu Friday to thank him for Turkey’s steadfast support to Pakistan on a range of issues. This support reflected the commitment of Pakistan and Turkey to stand by each other. Briefing the Turkish Foreign Minister on the situation after the Pulwama incident, Qureshi stated that Pakistan had asked India to share any actionable information it had enabling Pakistan to help in the investigation.
Qureshi appreciated Turkey’s understanding of Pakistan’s position on different issues and its continued support. He shared that excellent relations between the two brotherly countries had been further reinforced after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Turkey on January 3. During the visit the two sides had agreed to transform Pakistan-Turkey relations into a new enhanced strategic partnership.
Expressing complete understanding of Pakistan’s position, the Turkish Foreign Minister conveyed that Turkey rejected the accusations against Pakistan in the Pulwama attack.