Qureshi boycotts speech of Indian counterpart

Author: Agencies

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday boycotted the speech of Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Ministers in New York.

“It is not possible for me to sit with the murderer of Kashmiris,” he said while talking to reporters after boycotting the speech.

The spokesperson to the foreign minister had earlier announced that Qureshi had subjected his presence in the meeting during the speech to the lifting of the curfew in Indian-Held Kashmir (IHK).

“Pakistan will not engage with the ‘Butcher of Kashmir’ until and unless they (India) lift the siege and put an end to atrocities in IHK,” said a statement issued by the spokesperson.

“They must safeguard the human rights of every Kashmiri and ensure they are protected and not violated and trampled upon.”

On August 5, the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stripped the Kashmiris of the constitutional rights they had for seven decades through a rushed presidential order. Since then, an indefinite curfew has been in place in IHK while elected leaders are still under house arrest.

Prime Minister Imran Khan will take up at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday the issue of the unilateral annexation and brutalities by Indian forces in IHK.

Foreign Minister Qureshi earlier in the day held a meeting with Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir and discussed the situation in IHK as well as the prevailing threats to peace and security in the region.

During the meeting on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the foreign minister thanked his Saudi counterpart for hosting a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Contact Group on Kashmir.