Pakistan deeply concerned over human rights violations in IoK

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday expressed deep concern over the human rights violations in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) and called upon the international community to take notice of the situation.

“Pakistan is deeply concerned at the ongoing action by the Indian security forces against helpless Kashmiris in Handwara Jammu and Kashmir,” Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in a weekly press conference here at the Foreign Office.

The Spokesman mentioned the incident where four innocent Kashmiris were martyred and said the international community should take steps for the resolution of Kashmir dispute though a United Nations supervised plebiscite.

About the status of foreign secretary level talks between Pakistan and India, the spokesman said the two sides were in touch with each other and modalities were being worked out.

He recalled the decision about holding of talks was taken during the surprise visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Pakistan last December on his way back from Afghanistan.

On the prospects of next meeting of Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) on Afghanistan, the Foreign Office Spokesman said the four countries including Pakistan, China, Afghanistan and the United States had agreed for the earliest and mutually convenient dates for the meeting.

The Spokesman said the investigations by Joint Investigation Team on Pathankot incident were underway.

He mentioned that the visit of Pakistani JIT to India on March 27 was in the context of the cooperative approach being pursued by the Pakistan government as part of its commitment to effectively fight terrorism.

Following the arrest of Indian spy Kalbhushan Yadev, he said the investigations by agencies were going on in due course.

He said Iran in response to Pakistan’s request for cooperation in hitting the spy network had expressed the commitment at highest level that it would never allow its soil to be used against Pakistan.

The Spokesman said Pakistan’s nuclear capability was for self-defence and it remained ready to discuss arms control and restraint measures with India.

He stressed that the limited resources of Pakistan and India should be channeled to meeting the social needs of their people.

The Spokesman issued a travel advisory for Pakistani citizens to refrain visiting Libya, Iraq, Syria and Yemen in view of the ongoing security situation.

He mentioned that out of 45 Pakistanis stranded in China due to land sliding, nine had been repatriated back to country.