ISLAMABAD: Italy has criticised brutalities and atrocities of Indian armed forces against innocent Kashmiris who have been demanding their right to self-determination in accordance with the United Nations resolutions.

This was stated by visiting Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti during a meeting with President Mamnoon Hussain at the presidency here on Monday.

“My country opposes use of force and lethal weapons against peaceful protesters in Kashmir and it cannot be allowed to go on,” the president’s spokesman quoted the Italian minister as saying.

Ms Pinotti, who was leading an Italian delegation which had called on the president, said her country would apprise the international community of what was going on in India-held Kashmir. She acknowledged that Pakistan had been a victim of terrorism and had suffered a lot.

She praised Pakistan’s efforts for eradicating terrorism, bringing peace to Afghanistan and generously hosting millions of Afghan refugees.

President Mamnoon called upon the international community to urge India to immediately put an end to atrocities against innocent Kashmiris and resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions for a durable peace in the region.

He condemned the violation of human rights by Indian forces and use of brutal means to suppress the peaceful struggle of Kashmiris for their rights.

“The current wave of Indian atrocities has left over 100 Kashmiris martyred and more than 700 have received eye injuries due to the use of pellet guns which has resulted in blinding of over 160 people, including children and women,” he regretted.

The president recalled that more than 100,000 Kashmiris had lost their lives since 1989 and 10,000 women had been raped by the Indian forces. He told the Italian delegation that India had rejected the UN High Commissioner’s demand for a fact-finding mission for Kashmir and also not responded to a similar demand by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

He said India had also closed down all offices of the Amnesty International for raising voice against its atrocities in held Kashmir.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will forcefully raise the issue of occupied Jammu and Kashmir during his address to the United Nations General Assembly and will impress upon the world community to play its role in resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir,” Mr Mamnoon said. “Pakistan wants peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues with India, including Jammu and Kashmir.”

He was of the opinion that uninterrupted and result-oriented dialogue between the two countries was the key to all problems. He noted that the internationally recognised unresolved dispute of Jammu and Kashmir had remained the root cause of tensions in South Asia for more than 68 years as Kashmiris had been struggling for their right to self-determination since 1947.

President Mamnoon said Pakistan was the biggest victim of terrorism and underscored that it was committed to eradicating terrorism and extremism from its soil through the National Action Plan and Operation Zarb-i-Azb.

“Pakistan desires peace, stability and development in Afghanistan and has taken measures for better border management to avoid undesirable incidents and to promote peace,” he said.

The president said Pakistan and Italy shared views on a number of regional and global issues and hoped that both countries would continue to work closely on all issues of mutual interest. He expressed the confidence that a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation would pave the way for further enhancing defence collaboration between the two countries.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2016