ISLAMABAD, (TLTP): Welcoming debate on Kashmir issue in the UK parliament, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that in spite India’s all-out stubbornness, the world is convinced that peace and security cannot be ensured in South Asia without resolving the Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Commenting on the debate in the UK parliament on the move of the British Labour Party MP Sarah Owen with the support of cross-party British MPs, the state president said that more than one dozen UK MPs including some ministers while taking part in the debate have expressed grave concern over the fast deteriorating human rights situation in occupied Kashmir.
“They (MPs) also conveyed a categorical message to the Indian regime to refrain from its illegal actions in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir state, and respect the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people,” Khan said
The AJK president thanked all members of the UK parliament including James Barry Daly, Sarah Owen, Naz Shah, Paul Bristow, Steve Baker for their support to Kashmiri peoples’ struggle for their right to self-determination and expressing concern over the worsening human rights situation in occupied Kashmir.
He also expressed his gratitude to UK MPs for urging India to take immediate measures to improve the human rights situation in Kashmir under its occupation.
Khan expressed the hope that the UK parliamentarians, besides taking part in the debate on the Kashmir issue, would urge the UK, being a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to hold a debate on the Kashmir issue in the world body, and play a proactive role in resolving this issue pending for the last more than seven decades.
He said, “It is was a matter of great satisfaction that, besides All Parties Parliamentary Kashmir Group, groups like Conservative Friends of Kashmir and Labour Friends of Kashmir with whom we are in constant touch, are playing an active role in highlighting Kashmir conflict both within and outside the UK Parliament.”
The AJK president hoped that the UK government and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) would also play their role in this regard. He maintained that the vociferous role of UK-based Pakistani and Kashmiri community and the Pakistani-origin MPs in highlighting the Kashmir issue cannot be forgotten.
“The UK is an important member of the UN Security Council and home of more than 1.2 Pakistani and Kashmiri people who justifiably expect that the UK will move forward and play a leadership role to get the 72 years old issue resolved,” Masood Khan asserted. TLTP
