MIRPUR [AJK)  -  Prime Minister of Azad Jammu Kashmir Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq on Saturday lauded Pakistan Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar for highlighting the Kashmir issue in his speech to the UN general assembly. The AJK PM said that Prime Minister Kakar’s landmark speech fully reflected the aspira­tions of the Kashmiri people. Hail­ing Pakistan’s consistent support for the Kashmiris’ just cause, the AJK PM said in a statement that Pakistan has not only supported the Kashmiris’ legitimate struggle for the right to self-determination but also championed the Kash­miris’ case effectively at every in­ternational forum. Terming the Kashmir issue as one of the oldest issues pending on the UN agenda, the AJK Premier said that it was high time that the global commu­nity, especially the United Nations, should move beyond political rhet­oric and play their much-needed role to help resolve the lingering dispute peacefully in accordance with the UNSC resolutions.

He said that the time has come that the United Nations should re­ciprocate positively to Pakistan’s clarion call for holding a referen­dum in Kashmir and implement its resolutions on Kashmir. Refer­ring to New Delhi’s traditional in­transigence, the AJK PM said that India’s perpetual denial to imple­ment the UN resolutions has been the biggest hurdle in the way of peace in the region. AJK PM said that India has tried to change the disputed nature of the Kash­mir dispute by revoking article 370 and 35 A on August 5 2019 but failed. The people of Occu­pied Kashmir, he said, have been fighting against India’s illegal oc­cupation. He said that Kashmiris, who have time and again rejected India’s illegal control over the ter­ritory, have been demanding the implementation of the UNSC reso­lutions that guaranteed the right to self-determination of the peo­ple of the region. The AJK PM said that the Prime Minister of Paki­stan has rightly pointed out that lasting peace in South Asia was in­escapably linked to the settlement of the Kashmir dispute.