MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Thursday said the alarming situation within India-held Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC) warranted monumental diplomatic efforts on the part of Pakistan so as to bring an early end to the miseries of the Kashmiris.

Speaking at a press conference, which coincided with the third anniversary of his rule, Mr Haider maintained that “mere summoning of Indian envoy to Foreign Office to lodge protest over atrocities in occupied Kashmir and ceasefire violations at the LoC is not enough”. “It’s not going to yield anything in view of the obduracy and savagery of the Indian government,” he added.

The AJK premier said Pakistan was an important party to the Kashmir dispute and it was its moral, political and legal responsibility to awaken sympathies for the Kashmiris across the globe. “The foreign minister should invite the ambassadors of P5+1 countries and brief them on India’s ill-will towards Pakistan in the context of aggression in February and a mini-war unleashed within the held territory as well as the ceasefire line (LoC),” he added.

He also called upon Prime Minister Imran Khan to revisit the Kashmir issue. “Pakistan cannot survive without Kash­mir. The prime minister should ascertain that what is Kashmir and why and what is its importance for Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Haider said Islamabad should sensitise western countries that while it had been difficult for them to host hardly 650,000 refugees from the Middle East, how would they cope with the situation if an unconventional war broke out between India and Pakistan due to the unresolved Kashmir issue.

He said that while India had denied access to occupied Kashmir, Pakistan should allow visits of UN rapporteurs to AJK. This move would mount pressure on India, he said, adding that he would make same suggestion to Prime Minister Khan.

Mr Haider also seized the opportunity to reiterate his call that Kashmiris should be allowed to present their case themselves for a greater impact and benefits. “Unless it is done, hardly any progress can be made on this issue,” he said.

He suggested that a joint set-up comprising the AJK government and All Parties Hurriyat Conference should be constituted to plead the case of Kashmiris outside world. “Pakistan should remain on our back and help this set-up, in the first stage, achieve observer status of in the OIC,” he stressed.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2019