President AJK Sardar Masood Khan addresses seminar in Berlin

BERLIN: On a two-day visit to the German capital, President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Mr Sardar Masood Khan participated in a seminar on 'Durable peace in South Asia' at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy.

Addressing German civil society, intellectuals, human rights activist and international students President said, durable peace will not be possible without resolving the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Speaking with Geo.tv, AJK President condemned the statement of Indian PM Modi at G20 summit in Hamburg. He said, Indian PM is shamelessly trying to malign the peaceful freedom movement of Kashmiris, into a terrorist movement. However, the international community is getting aware of Indian atrocities in IOK, he added.

In a fecund discussion between young students and the panel, President AJK asked the audience, “Isn't this the biggest diplomatic oxymoron of our times that India wants to take Kashmir and Kashmiris out of the Kashmir dispute”. Peace in South Asia requires engagement but India is blocking all channels for dialogue and communication on Kashmir, he added.

A video documentary about the ongoing brutalities in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) was also screened. The seminar was attended by the prominent members of Pakistani diaspora, students and friends of Kashmiri people.

Moreover, Ambassador Jauhar Saleem underlined that the struggle of the Kashmiri people for their legitimate right of self-determination was destined to succeed and India had totally failed to suppress the indigenous struggle of the Kashmiri people, which was bound to succeed.

President AJK Sardar Masood Khan had a brief meeting with Dr Michael Gottlob from Amnesty International's German section. Dr Gottlob told Geo.tv that the space for human rights and human rights defenders is shrinking in India, as Indian authorities, like few other authoritarian regimes, were using denial of visa as means to block fact-finding in Kashmir and North-East region. Human rights violations in Indian-held Kashmir should come to an end, Gottlob added.

Moreover, Paying tribute to Germany for emerging as a “bastion of stability” in Europe and a global leader, President Khan urged German Members of European Parliament to raise the issue on the floor of the Parliament and call on the UN Security Council to take urgent steps to implement its resolutions on Kashmir.

As citizens, he said, Germans should work for the primacy of protection of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir. The AJK President appealed to the European countries not to “appease” India for the sake of economic benefits and misguided strategic considerations.

“We have faith in Germany; have faith in Kashmiris and help them realise their right to self-determination," he said while concluding his speech.