–FO spokesperson says Kashmir issue must be resolved in line with Kashmiris’ aspirations to avert bloodshed
–Says FM Qureshi will visit China soon for in-depth discussion over issue
–Says Kashmir issue hopefully won’t affect Kartarpur corridor and Afghan peace process
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday said Pakistan would stand by Kashmiris in all situations and would exercise concrete options in response to India’s illegal move of revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
“The only viable solution to settle Kashmir dispute lies in conforming to the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council in order to avert a grave threat ahead,” Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal said in a weekly press briefing.
The spokesman said Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would be heading to China for an in-depth discussion on the serious matter.
He said the attorney general for Pakistan was also looking into probabilities of invoking the jurisdiction of International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Asked if Pakistan could go for a complete severing of ties with India following the recent diplomatic downgrade, the spokesman said, “Everything remains in the realm of possibility.”
Of Pakistan’s reaction on Line of Control ceasefire violations, the spokesman said, “The word ‘fear’ does not exist in our dictionary and India should remember February 27” referring to the incident when Pakistan Air Force downed two India MiGs on LoC violation.
The spokesman dismissed the impression that Pakistan was not aware in advance of India’s revocation of Article 370 on August 5 and said rather the country played pro-actively as the foreign minister had already sent a letter to the United Nations’ chief on August 1, following a meeting of Kashmir’s parliamentary committee.
“Pakistan is mindful of the situation and will continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris at all fora,” he said.
He expressed satisfaction that the international community, including China, Turkey, Malaysia and other countries, had given positive statements in favour of Kashmir’s special status.
He said India was in a state of panic after its illegal step, which was obvious through a presence of 9,00,000 troops in Occupied Kashmir, the imposition of curfew and internet blockade.
On social media trends where Indian men expressed wishful intent of ‘get a wife from Kashmir’ linking it with Article 370’s revocation, he said, “This is despicable and entirely condemnable, and strong notice should be taken by the international community and also by Facebook and Twitter”.
Would the situation in Occupied Kashmir affect the implementation of Kartarpur corridor, he said, “notwithstanding the recent development, Pakistan will continue working towards the materializing of the project”.
On the Afghan peace process, he said Pakistan would continue to play the role of the facilitator and expressed hope that recent Kashmir situation would not have any impact on its continuation.
On reports about the release of Jamatud Dawa leader Hafiz Saeed, the spokesman said, “The news is fake; he has not been released.”
