Pakistan welcomes UN Security Council meet on Kashmir

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday welcomed the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir.

In a tweet, he said for the first time in 50 years the Kashmir issue has been raised on the world's highest diplomatic forum.

"I welcome the UNSC meeting to discuss the serious situation in Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. It is for the first time in over 50 yrs that the world’s highest diplomatic forum has taken up this issue," Khan said.

"Therefore addressing the suffering of the Kashmiri people & ensuring resolution of the dispute is the responsibility of this world body," Khan added.

On Friday, the Security Council held a close-door meeting on the latest developments in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir on Islamabad's request.

Mounting tensions between the nuclear-armed Pakistan and India have further flared following the scrapping of the special status of the picturesque Himalayan state.

Kashmiri leaders and citizens fear this step is an attempt by India to change the demography of the Muslim-majority state, where some groups have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

The Indian government has since place the region under a communication blockade which has now entered its thirteenth day.