Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria has said that Pakistan is ready to hold a dialogue with India to resolve outstanding issues, but Indian atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir are a threat to peace in the region.

He expressed these views here on Thursday in the weekly media briefing.

Nafees Zakaria said that the situation in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) was getting worse. “The killings, arbitrary arrests and fake encounters of Kashmiris continue and their fundamental rights are being denied constantly,” he said, urging the international community to hold India accountable for their crimes against humanity.

Talking about the massacre in Hundwara on January 25 in 1990 in which 25 people were killed, he said that the manslaughter was committed by Indian occupation forces just three days after they killed more than 50 Kashmiris in Gawkadal. “The perpetrators of the two massacres are yet to face justice, while the victims’ families have been suffering from the unforgettable and unbearable pain for the past 27 years.”

He said that the two incidents were among one-and-a-half dozen massacres that Indian occupation forces have committed since 1990.

He said that the Pakistani High Commission in India was in contacts with Indian authorities regarding the two missing Pakistani boys.

On Indian involvement in Parachanar attack, he said that five to six terrorists apprehended had links with the Indian spy agency RAW. They were also planning to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. He said that law enforcement agencies were still investigating the matter.

The spokesperson said that Pakistan had added additional information of involvement of India in Pakistan in the dossier recently handed over to the United Nations (UN).

He said that at the end of an extensive three-hour debate on Kashmir, the House of Commons, UK, resolved that it “notes the escalation in violence and breaches of international human rights on the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kashmir”.

The House of Commons called on the government to raise the matter at the United Nations and to encourage Pakistan and India to commence peace negotiations to establish a long-term solution on the future governance of Kashmir, based on the right of the Kashmiri people to determine their own future in accordance with the provisions of the UN Security Council resolutions.

He said that the painful episode of those young Pakistani men who were lured by unscrupulous agents and faced untold hardship when they were kidnapped for ransom.

“We and their families owe our gratitude to the Turkish authorities whose timely action helped rescue them and safely reunite them with their loved ones in Pakistan,” he said.

On summoning Pakistani high commissioner in Bangladesh, he said it was regarding the cracker that went off outside the Bangladeshi deputy high commissioner’s office in Karachi.

He said that after the incident, security of the deputy high commissioner and his residence had been enhanced.

He said that terrorism was global phenomenon and needed to be dealt with globally. He said that the United States and Pakistan had longstanding relations. He said that the last round of strategic dialogue between both the countries was held last year, and the two countries were cooperating in the areas of economic, security, defence, nuclear energy, education, science and education. He hoped that the new American administration would further strengthen relations between the both countries.

On former Afghan president Karzai’s statements against Pakistan, he said that Pakistan’s track record and actions against terrorists were above those of other countries. He said terrorists were also present in Afghanistan, and added that the blame game would not serve the interests of any country. He said that Pakistan wanted peace and stability in Afghanistan.

On Pakistan’s request to British authorities for reviewing decision of dropping the money laundering case against Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain, he said the Interior Ministry was directly dealing with the British authorities.