ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Monday that Pakistan would participate in the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference to be held in India.

“Our participation [in the conference] will be at the ministerial level,” he said while talking to journalists after attending a photography exhibition held at Lok Virsa in connection with the United Nations Day.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates are part of the ‘Heart of Asia’ initiative launched in 2011 for encouraging economic and security cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours for dealing with the common problems of terrorism, extremism and poverty.

Mr Aziz confirmed the reported visit of an Afghan Taliban delegation to Pakistan, saying Islamabad would extend all possible support for resumption of the peace dialogue between the Afghan government and the Taliban. However, he refused to share details of the visit, saying it was not an appropriate time.

He said Pakistan was in touch with all the countries in the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) on the Afghan issue — the United States, China and Afghanistan — and they were trying on their own for resumption of peace negotiations.

As a result of such efforts, a meeting was recently held in Qatar and the Afghan government and Taliban were ready to brief the QCG members.

He said Pakistan always supported the Afghan-led peace process and wanted a durable peace in the neighboring country. “We will continue our efforts aimed at restarting the peace dialogue.”

Atrocities in held Kashmir

Mr Aziz said the Pakistan government had launched an effective diplomatic campaign and written letters to the heads of states, secretaries general of the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and others highlighting the atrocities being committed by the Indian forces in held Kashmir.

Pakistan has asked for international condemnation of these brutalities and their investigation at the global level.

The adviser said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had offered to send an investigation commission to held Kashmir, but the Indians opposed it.

Similarly, he added, the OIC had at a recent meeting of foreign ministers of the member states passed a resolution condemning the human rights violations in held Kashmir and recommending to send their own human rights commission to the Valley.

Mr Aziz alleged that India had been violating the UN resolutions on Kashmir despite the fact that the human rights issue was an important pillar of the UN charter.

He called upon the UN Military Observer Mission to visit the Line of Control to monitor the violations being committed by the Indian forces there.

Published in Dawn October 25th, 2016

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