Locals’ will must shape Kashmir’s fate: Pakistani envoy

By Ali Murat Alhas and Ahmet Furkan Mercan

ANKARA (AA) - Pakistan's top envoy in Turkey said Monday that the fate of Jammu and Kashmir should be subject to the self-determination of the people in the disputed region.

Speaking at a conference organized by the Institute of Strategic Thinking -- a think-tank based in the Turkish capital Ankara -- Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi commented on Pakistan’s contributions to regional peace and stability and recent developments in Jammu and Kashmir.

“There can be no lasting peace in South Asia without a just settlement of the Kashmir dispute based on the UN Security Council resolutions and the will of the Kashmiri people."

"Both India and Pakistan desire that the question of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan should be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite", as promised by UNSC Resolution 47 in 1948, he said.

“Subsequent, relevant UNSC resolutions rejected India's claim over Kashmir and established self-determination as the governing principle for the settlement of the Kashmir dispute,” he added.

Qazi complained that Pakistan's efforts to secure peace and stability in South Asia were undermined, stressing its incessant support for peace and dialogue despite "bellicose rhetoric and war frenzy being fomented by India".

"Today, occupied Jammu and Kashmir remains one of the most militarized zones in the world, where more than 700,000 Indian security forces continue to unleash a reign of terror," he added.

-Recent tensions between India, Pakistan

Relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors further soured when warplanes from both sides engaged in a dogfight along the border of disputed Kashmir. India and Pakistan claimed to have downed each other's planes and an Indian pilot was captured.

Last week, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, the Indian pilot who became the face of the escalating conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors, was handed over to Indian authorities by Pakistan.

The U.S., EU, Turkey and many other states urged both countries to resolve their differences through talks.

The two South Asian nations have fought three wars in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir -- since they were partitioned in 1947.

Meanwhile, Qazi expressed his "deep gratitude" to the people and government of Turkey for their "steadfast" support to Pakistan. He also thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his attitude towards the issue.

-Afghan peace process

On the role of his country in the Afghan peace process, Qazi said: "Pakistan will continue to lend its support to an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process of peace and reconciliation.

“Without peace in Afghanistan, there can be no peace in the region," he said, mentioning the killing of thousands of civilians in Afghanistan.

Efforts to find a lasting settlement to the Afghan conflict have gathered momentum in the last six months, with many players -- including Turkey, Russia and the U.S. -- getting more engaged in the peace process.

Moscow hosted two peace conferences within four months between the Afghan government and the Taliban aimed at national reconciliation in the war-torn country.