NEW DELHI, MAR 20 – India has allowed over 3.2 million Hindus to settle in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to change the Himalayan region’s Muslim majority status, said the president of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Masood Khan termed the Indian government’s move a “massive encroachment.”

“Since last April until December 2020, the Indian government has given domiciles to 3.2 million Hindus and allowed them to settle in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir [IIOJK],” Khan told a virtual conference hosted by Islamabad-based think tank Islamabad Institute of Conflict Resolution (IICR) on Thursday evening.

He warned that New Delhi is “preparing the ground for illegal settlements along the lines of Israel.”

“Massive investment is being directed to IIOJK so that these entrepreneurs and these investors also play a part in the occupation of the territory. There is also a land grab going on… I mean landlords have been modified to accommodate these settler economies, and also special colonies for ex-India army personnel,” he alleged.

Nasir Qadri, who is executive director of the international advocacy group Legal Forum for Kashmir, said India is “moving in Kashmir on the Israeli pattern.”

“The same strategy adopted by Israel in Palestine is being followed by India in IIOJK,” he said.

“To stop the demographic change in Kashmir, Pakistan has no other option than working on ‘advisory opinion’ at International Court of Justice [ICJ],” he proposed.

Following this mode, said Qadri, Pakistan can raise this particular issue of alleged demographic change before P5 members of UN Security Council and “ask them to refer this issue to ICJ for an advisory opinion.”

CHINA FACTOR

Touching upon the recent de-escalation agreement along the Kashmir border between Pakistan and India, Former Pakistani military general and defense analyst Amjad Shoaib said the Chinese action in Ladakh areas of Jammu and Kashmir had “forced India to go defensive.”

“India is unable to face tension on two fronts and recent Chinese action in Ladakh forced New Delhi for de-escalation on Line of Control,” said Shoaib, referring to the de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

In a rare move in February, the militaries of the two nuclear-armed neighbors agreed to renew the 2003 cease-fire along the LoC, which has witnessed a massive escalation in violations in the past few years.

India is currently in talks with China for disengagement after skirmishes along the Sino-Indian border last May caused casualties on both sides.

DISPUTED REGION

Kashmir is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965, and 1971 — two of them over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or unification with neighboring Pakistan.

In August 2019, the Indian government scrapped the special status of the region, allowing non-Kashmiris to buy property in the Muslim-majority state amid fears by locals that this will lead to demographic changes.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.

The Afghan government and the Taliban agreed on Friday to try to accelerate peace talks, at a meeting in Moscow that followed an international conference there on the peace process, a senior Afghan official was quoted as saying.

The United States, Russia, China and Pakistan called on Afghanistan’s warring sides to reach an immediate ceasefire at the conference, held in Russia just six weeks before a deadline agreed last year to withdraw US troops.

“We expressed our readiness to accelerate the [peace] process,” Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, told Russia’s RIA news agency. “They (the Taliban) did as well.”

Abdullah said the sides had not discussed any specific issues when they met in Moscow on Friday.

Moscow hosted the international conference on Afghanistan on Thursday, at which Russia, the US, China and Pakistan released a joint statement calling on the Afghan sides to reach a peace deal and curb violence, and on the Taliban not to launch any offensives in the spring and summer.

The conference aimed to reinvigorate negotiations that have been taking place between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Qatar’s capital Doha, largely stalled over government accusations that the insurgents have failed to halt violence.

The Moscow conference was the first time the US had sent a senior representative to talks on Afghanistan under a format launched by Russia in 2017.

Washington agreed last year with the Taliban to withdraw its troops by May 1 after nearly two decades, and is looking for support among regional powers for its plans for the peace process.

ISLAMABAD, MAR 19 – /DNA/ – Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi had a telephone call with Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mr. Hanif Atmar . The two Foreign Ministers exchanged greetings and good wishes on the eve of Nowruz.

During the telephone call, views were exchanged on matters of mutual interest, including Pakistan-Afghanistan bilateral relations and latest status of Afghan peace process.

Reiterating Pakistan’s consistent support to the Afghan peace process, the Foreign Minister underlined that the Intra-Afghan Negotiations provided historic opportunity to achieve an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister urged Afghan parties to work constructively for the shared objective of a stable and peaceful Afghanistan. He underscored the need to remain cognizant of the challenges and impediments on the way, which could be overcome through patience, perseverance and persistence.

Foreign Minister Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to facilitate all efforts for a negotiated political settlement and in this context also underlined the importance of exercising vigilance against the role of “spoilers.”

In the bilateral context, the Foreign Minister reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to forge closer cooperation with Afghanistan in all fields. He underlined the importance of APAPPS as a vital platform to carry forward the bilateral cooperation on key tracks. The Foreign Minister also emphasized the need for early conclusion of talks relating to the APTTA (Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement).

Foreign Minister Qureshi extended invitation to Foreign Minister Atmar to visit Pakistan at the earliest convenience.

ISLAMABAD, MAR 19 (DNA) – Ambassador gave a detailed interview to Pavel Lazovik, Head of the Information Department of Radio “Belarus” International. The Radio broadcasts in 9 languages including German, French, Spanish and English in shortwaves daily.

On arrival at the Radio Station, the Ambassador was given a short tour of the offices including the archival library, symphony hall and the recording studio, where the Ambassador was also afforded an opportunity to listen to the Pakistan’s National Anthem, received by the former USSR back in 1978.

The hour long interview covered bilateral relations between Pakistan and Belarus, major engagements scheduled during the year, ongoing efforts of the Embassy to promote trade, education and cultural ties.

The Ambassador also touched upon socio-economic development of both the nations, particularly trade, investment and collaboration in tourism in the context of Pakistan’s endeavours to expanding ties with rest of the world as part of its Geo-Economics connectivity rather than geo political contestations.