Brussels, (Unib Rashid) __ Chairman of the Kashmir Council EU Ali Raza Syed, stated that during his address at the Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum, Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar spoke openly about Kashmir and made it clear that sustainable peace in the region cannot be established without resolving the Kashmir issue.

Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, who is currently on an official visit to Brussels, addressed the fourth EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum. He said that we believe sustainable peace in South Asia cannot be achieved without a peaceful resolution of the decades-old Kashmir issue in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. The European Union’s High Representative/Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ms. Kaja Kallas, had also invited Senator Ishaq Dar to co-chair the seventh session of the Pakistan-EU Strategic Dialogue.

Chairman of the Kashmir Council EU Ali Raza Syed expressed a optimistic reaction to Ishaq Dar’s statement on Kashmir, saying that Senator Ishaq Dar spoke openly about the Kashmir issue at the Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in the presence of representatives from seventy countries.

Specifically, Ishaq Dar stated that sustainable peace in South Asia cannot be maintained until the Kashmir issue is resolved in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. Ishaq Dar has presented a truth-based stance on Kashmir and defended the rights of Kashmiris.

The Chairman of the Kashmir Council EU said that Ishaq Dar’s address at the Indo-Pacific meeting will have a profound impact, and thus the reality of the Kashmir issue will be revealed to the world once again. Ali Raza Syed said that India’s atrocities on Kashmiris are increasing day by day, and the world has started to learn about India’s oppression.

Ali Raza Syed emphasized that the real issue in South Asia is India’s human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and the long-pending Kashmir dispute. The Indian oppression on Kashmiris is Indian state terrorism, and India is refusing to grant the Kashmiri people the right to self-determination.

The Chairman of the Kashmir Council EU clarified that the Kashmir issue is not a bilateral matter or a regional dispute between India and Pakistan, but rather an internationally recognized issue. The world should remember that India had promised the Kashmiri people the right to self-determination, which remains unfulfilled to this day. In additional to that the United Nations Security Council resolutions exist on this issue.

He demanded that the international community put pressure on India to fulfill its promise to the Kashmiris and respect their basic rights.

Ali Raza Syed said that in occupied Kashmir, many political leaders and activists have been forcibly detained or imprisoned, while severe restrictions have been imposed on human rights activists and journalists, and many of them are also in custody.

He said that the Kashmir issue should be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris as soon as possible.