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New York, 09 October, 2018
Pakistan said at the UN that it seeks a negotiated settlement of all issues including the Kashmir dispute, but India refuses to even engage in any dialogue.
Speaking in the General Assembly in the debate on the Report of the Secretary General on the work of the Organization, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi urged the international community to take concrete and meaningful action to alleviate the suffering of the Kashmiri people.
The UN, she asserted, has longstanding obligations on Jammu and Kashmir as it remains among the oldest issues on the agenda of the Security Council.
Welcoming the establishment of the Secretary General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation, Ambassador Lodhi reminded the Parliament of world that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was one of the earliest applications of Chapter VI of the United Nations, which deals with pacific settlements of disputes.
Dr. Lodhi also referred to the June 14 report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which she said documented in detail the systematic violations of fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people.
The Pakistani envoy reminded the world body that through several resolutions, the Security Council provided the Kashmiris their inalienable right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite. But she added, “Regrettably, these resolutions remain unimplemented.”
Meanwhile, she said, the Indian occupation continues to commit, with impunity, gross violations of the fundamental human rights of the Kashmiri people.
In her wide-ranging address to the UN General Assembly, Ambassador Lodhi also highlighted Pakistan’s achievements in the fight against terrorism, and said that the country’s military campaign had crushed and eliminated terrorist groups from its territory.
In doing so Pakistan had paid a heavy price, she said, as tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers had embraced martyrdom, and many more were injured. She reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to fight terrorism and added that this commitment remained firm and abiding.
Ambassador Lodhi also stressed the importance of addressing the underlying or root causes of terrorism. She cited Secretary General Antonio Gutteres as saying: “No one is born a terrorist, and nothing justifies terrorism, but factors such as prolonged unresolved conflicts, lack of the rule of law and socioeconomic marginalization can all play a role in transforming grievances into destructive action”.
In a spirited defence of multilateralism she declared that “Our destiny is invariably tied to rules-based multilateralism, with the UN at its core. For the UN is the only avenue where we, as members of the international community, can find solutions that we cannot resolve by acting alone.”
A vibrant and functional UN is also the best bulwark against the rising tide of populism, protectionism and unilateralism, threatening to unravel the very foundations of the international order.
She concluded by saying that “Working together is not an option but the only choice.”