ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stressed on Monday that the only path to durable peace in South Asia was through a just resolution of the Kashmir dispute, urging the international community to take steps to rein in New Delhi from alleged rights violations in the territory.
The message came from Sharif’s office on the occasion of the ‘Right to Self-Determination Day,’ which Pakistan marks every year on Jan. 5 to pay tribute to the people of Indian-administered Kashmir. It commemorates the day when the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution in 1949, supporting the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to decide their future through a free and fair plebiscite under UN supervision.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir has been divided between Pakistan and India since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both countries govern parts of the territory but claim it in full, having fought two of their three wars over the disputed region.
“The world must also recognize that a just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is the only way to achieve durable peace in South Asia,” Sharif said, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
