Pakistan calls for strengthening UN military observer group in Kashmir

In this undated file photo, United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) personnel are seen at the disputed Himalayan territory. (Photo courtesy: UNMOGIP)

• FM Qureshi says the government will launch a Kashmir awareness campaign from Jan. 25
• The PM will address the legislative assembly in Muzaffarabad and a public rally in Mirpur on Feb. 5

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday that the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) should be strengthened to prevent any false flag operation in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, Qureshi announced that the government would launch an awareness campaign from Saturday to sensitize people about the ongoing situation in Kashmir. He added that the campaign would include photo exhibitions, solidarity rallies and seminars.
Among other events, he continued, the prime minister would address the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad and speak at a public rally in Mirpur on February 5.
India, he noted, was being “deceitful” by trying to create and impression that Pakistan was blowing the situation in Kashmir out of proportion.
The foreign minister reminded the participants of the gathering that the people of Indian-administered Kashmir were under a security lockdown for the last 175 days, adding that the administration in New Delhi had trampled their fundamental rights and transformed the region into a prison for its eight million residents.
Qureshi also expressed his government’s resolve to highlight the recent developments in Kashmir until its people were allowed to exercise their right to self-determination. 
He said that Pakistan was doing its best to take up the issue “at the highest level,” noting that Prime Minister Imran Khan discussed it during his meeting with United States President Donald Trump and briefed the American leader on the complexity of the situation and its likely outcomes.
The foreign minister said it was due to the government’s efforts that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) recently arranged two important sessions on Kashmir after about 50 years.
In its latest meeting on the subject on January 17, the world body was briefed about the ongoing situation in Kashmir by the UN political department and UNMOGIP.
Qureshi talked about his own meeting with the UN secretary general and the president of the Security Council after the session and how he gave them a low down on what was going on in the disputed Himalayan territory.
He reiterated that the world needed to take stock of developments in Kashmir since any dispute between two nuclear-armed neighbors would prove disastrous for everyone.