Ambassador Rahim Hayat Qureshi: „Pakistan needs an independent investigation after Phalgam killing”
Ambassador Rahim Hayat Qureshi, ambassador of Pakistan to the NATO, EU, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, hosted senior journalists and analysts based in EU for an insightful exchange on regional and international developments. He highlighted India’s continued disinformation campaign regarding IIOJK and shared Pakistan’s perspective on the situation.
As ambassador Rahim Hayat Qureshi explained, tensions between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan remain high in the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attack on innocent tourists in Indian-Occupied Jammu & Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
Immediately after the attack, India blamed Pakistan, citing a terrorist organisation almost unknown in Pakistan. Interestingly, India always points to Pakistan when some local elections are held in a nearby province and such incidents occur. This incident is unmistakably similar to the one that happened 25 years ago, when 35 Sikhs were killed in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. India then blamed the innocent people of Kashmir for the terrorist attack. As 25 years ago, Indian police now again claim without any proof that the terrorists came from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.
India deliberately considers the Kashmiri independence movement as Pakistan-based terrorism and is trying to prevent it by all means. It is also hard to miss that threats to regional peace have intensified manifold since Modi came to power in India. The Indian government has been obstructing the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute for decades.
This latest incident led to nuclear-armed neighbours having downgraded diplomatic ties, India suspended key treaties and expelled Pakistani nationals.
The tension between the two nuclear power states is so big, that even the US is closely watching the Kashmir situation now. Washington is urging India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions.
Ambassador Rahim Hayat Qureshi also pointed out that Pakistan is asking for an independent investigation into the case. The world has to know who is behind these cases and perpetrators, backers, and planners must be brought to justice.
A new war between these two nuclear powers would permanently undermine the fragile peace in South Asia and have catastrophic consequences not only for the people of both countries but for the whole world.
Ambassador Rahim Hayat Qureshi reminded his guests, that peace in the region and between the two states can never be achieved by force of arms, only through negotiations. He urged that these negotiations start as soon as possible, with the involvement of the Kashmiri people, as the UN has repeatedly stated.
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