Further needling India on the Kashmir issue, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today declared slain Hizbul commander Burhan Wani as a “martyr” and said July 19 will be observed as black day to express solidarity with people of Kashmir.
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The unrest sparked a diplomatic spat as Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed shock at Wani’s killing and the “excessive force” used by Indian security personnel.
The cabinet asked India to hold dialogue with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue and to include Kashmiri leaders in the process.
It said that the Hurriyat leadership and Kashmiris are thankful to the Government and people of Pakistan for their unflinching support for the freedom struggle of Kashmiris.
The FO expressed Pakistan’s concerns at the detention of Kashmiri leadership in IHK and called upon the Indian government to fulfil its human rights obligations as well as its commitments under the United Nations resolutions. Every measure would be adopted to awaken the world conscience to current solution and to get plebiscite conducted in Kashmir for determining the choice of the people living there, he added.
“The Indian security forces are involved in state-terrorism in Kashmir and the global community should take notice of it”, Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said at his weekly briefing in Islamabad.
Kashmiri protesters clash with Indian government troopers (unseen) in Srinagar, Kashmir, July 14, 2016.
“Terrorism is terrorism”, foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
There has been a lot of pressure on Nawaz Sharif government to raise the Kashmir issue with global community lately.
The current situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir is in fact the result of the continued denial by India of the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people, assured by the United Nations in its multiple resolutions.
The Prime Minister termed Burhan Wani as martyr of independence movement. “India has to understand that hearts can not be won with the use of force”.
“Pakistan’s blatant attempt to internationalise the sensitive situation in Jammu and Kashmir, one where they have been an agent provocateur for over two decades, needs to be condemned in the strongest terms possible”, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters here. All institutions of Pakistan would highlight the tyranny of Indian forces.
India dismissed Pakistan’s criticism of its handling of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and accused the Asian neighbour of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.
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During the meeting, the federal cabinet also approved the increase in the upper age limit to 30 years for the candidates appearing in Central Superior Services (CSS) exam.
