Pakistan rakes up Kashmir issue at UN human rights body meet

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has raked up the Kashmir issue at a discussion at UN human rights body, accusing India of human rights violations in the Valley and urging the international community to take notice of the situation.

Addressing the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid yesterday said that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognised issue pending final settlement through a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices, as enunciated in numerous resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

"Hamid rejected Indian claims that the situation in Kashmir is its internal affair. He stressed that this claim was factually incorrect, legally untenable and in violation of UNSC resolutions," the Foreign Office said here.

Pakistan will continue to extend its unflinching political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people, said the minister.

He also rejected alleged Indian attempts to divert the attention of the international community from the human rights situation in Kashmir by equating it to terrorism.

Hamid called upon the Human Rights Council and the international community to remain seized of the situation in Kashmir.

He supported the High Commissioner for Human Rights' position for a team to visit Kashmir to independently and impartially investigate the alleged human rights violations.