(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Sartaj Aziz letter underlined the need to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council.
Officially discussing India’s violations of the ceasefire agreement by engaging in cross-border firing the adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz wrote to Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon. Firing along the disputed and working boundary between India and Pakistan have left 17 civilians dead in the worst skirmishes in a decade.
In December last year Pakistan and India had pledged to uphold the 2003 Line of Control (LoC) ceasefire accord which had been left in tatters by repeated violations that year.
The truce breaches had put the nascent bilateral peace dialogue on hold. Ceasefire violations along the LoC and working boundary between Pakistan and India continue intermittently however with casualties reported on both sides.
Sartaj Aziz’ letter underlined the need to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council. It reminded the United Nations and the international community about their role and responsibility in this regard. “For decades Pakistan has been reminding the United Nations and the international community to fulfill that promise in the interest of durable peace and security in the region” Aziz said in his letter to Ban Ki-moon.
Former president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf had said in 2003 that he was prepared to set aside that demand in an effort to reach a settlement over Kashmir. Aziz said that in his address to the UN General Assembly on September 26 Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had also emphasised that the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir needed to be resolved.
“This is the responsibility of the international community. We cannot draw a veil on the issue of Kashmir until it is addressed in accordance with the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The prime minister had also reiterated Pakistan’s readiness to work for resolution of this issue through negotiations ”.
He said unfortunately India has adopted a policy that runs counter to its stated desire to engage in a serious bilateral dialogue with Pakistan.
Aziz said India cancelled unilaterally and without any plausible justification the foreign secretary level talks that were scheduled to be held on August 25 this year.
He said India has now escalated the situation along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and the working boundary.
Persistent shelling and firing by Indian forces has resulted in heavy civilian casualties on the Pakistan side.
The letter said “while exercising its right to self-defence Pakistan has exercised utmost restraint to these provocations.”
Since the beginning of October Pakistan and India have been firing mortars and machine-guns across the border leading to the highest death toll in a decade among civilians on both sides.
It is unclear what started the intense firing although officers who have served on the LoC say that small incidents can rapidly escalate with ever-increasing force. -newskhaleejtimes.com(with inputs from agencies)
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