‘Verdict on future of Kashmir only by Kashmiri people’

Amid a war of words, Pakistan said any verdict on the future of Kashmir can only be given by the Kashmiri people, a day after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj mentioned that “the whole of Jammu & Kashmir belongs to India and Kashmir will never become part of Pakistan,” Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz said, “Such a verdict on the future of Kashmir can only be given by the people of Kashmir and not by the External Affairs Minister of India”.

“This right has been promised to the people of Kashmir by the UN Security Council. It is high time that India allowed the people of Jammu & Kashmir to exercise this right through a free and fair UN supervised plebiscite. Once the majority of the people of Kashmir have voted for joining either Pakistan or India the whole world will accept this verdict of the Kashmiri people,” Aziz said upping the ante on the issue. Aziz said, “Pakistan urges the UN, international community and the human rights organisations to play their role in stopping the Indian atrocities in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir against innocent and defenceless Kashmiris. Even in India, conscientious voices have raised concern over the brutalities and reign of terror unleashed by the Indian forces in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.”