Recent Kashmir 'flare-up' threatened regional peace: Pak

NEW YORK: Pakistan's envoy to the UN has alleged that the "denial" of the right to self-determination to the Kashmiris led to the recent "flare-up" which threatened regional peace and security.

"Denial of the right of self-determination" to the people of Kashmir through an "independent plebiscite, promised to them by various Security Council resolutions was at the heart of the current flare up, which threatened regional peace and security," Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi said here.

Lodhi, addressing an event to mark 'Kashmir Solidarity Day' at the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations, said Pakistan's "moral, political and diplomatic support" to the Kashmiri people in their "struggle" for their right to self-determination will continue until Kashmir is "liberated".

Lodhi said that on behalf of her government, she is actively pursuing the Kashmir issue at various fora of the United Nations, raising the issue during meetings with the UN leadership as well as the President of the Security Council, who had then briefed the Security Council on the issue at Pakistan's request, a statement issued by the Pakistan mission here said yesterday.

The Pakistani envoy also spoke about her meeting with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein to press for the country's demand to send a UN mission to investigate alleged "human rights violations" in Kashmir.