ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Tuesday that India’s bluster could not browbeat Pakistan into budging from its principled stand on the Kashmir issue.

“Pakistan will not step back from lending moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmiris struggling to achieve their internationally recognised right to self-determination,” he said while talking to AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider who called on him.

The minister said the just freedom struggle of Kashmiris could not be crushed through brutal state repression.

He said grave violations of human rights in India-held Kashmir and deviation from the relevant United Nations resolutions should be a matter of concern not only for the UN but also for all the champions of democratic norms.

Chaudhry Nisar said evasion of meaningful talks and the policy of hurling baseless allegations against Pakistan being pursued by India were the biggest hurdles in the way of a durable peace in the region.

Talking to Dawn, the AJK prime minister said he and Chaudhry Nisar had discussed in detail the brutal violence of Indian occupation forces in held Kashmir. He also said that the Kashmir liberation movement could not be suppressed by the use of force and urged India to come to the negotiating table to find a peaceful settlement to the lingering dispute.

He stressed that resolution of the Kashmir issue was a must for a durable peace in South Asia and for staving off a nuclear holocaust in the region.

He said forceful protests were continuing in India-held Kashmir after the killing of Kashmiri commander Burhan Wani. He said over 100 Kashmiris had been killed by Indian troops during the period and a large number had been blinded by pellet gun fire.

About recent Indian allegations, the AJK leader said it was a deliberate attempt to defame Pakistan at a time when the prime minister was in the United States to address the UN General Assembly, where he was to forcefully raise the Kashmir issue.

“This is not something new. India is in the habit of hurling baseless allegations against Pakistan whenever something goes wrong, even before the commencement of any investigations,” he said.

He said these negative tactics would not work and the brutal face of India would be exposed before the world.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2016