ISLAMABAD – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)parliamentarians Tuesday termed Kashmir dispute as a global issue andassured to raise the predicament of Kashmiris at international and regionalforums till its resolution.
They condemned the Indian oppression against innocent Kashmiris fordepriving their human rights and identity.
A delegation comprising members of parliament from ASEAN region, led byDato Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid, President of Majlis Perundingan Islam,Malaysia (MAPIM), met Speaker Asad Qaiser in Parliament House.
The Members of the Parliaments of Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam,Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Singapore are currently visiting Pakistanto get insight of the Kashmir issue.
Speaker Asad Qaiser while apprising the delegation about the present statein Indian Occupied Kashmir said that the Kashmiri people were subjected toworst lockdown in global history, depriving them of their fundamentalrights.
The 93-days long lockdown had turned the valley into a jail, aggravatingtheir miseries in terms of blocking communication and non-supply of fooditems and medicines, said a press release.
The Speaker said that thousands of youth had been subjected to abduction,torture and custodial killings besides indiscriminate use of arms oninnocent women and children.
He asked the Parliamentarians to propagate the Kashmir issue in trueperspective in their countries and Parliaments for putting diplomaticpressure on India to resolve the issue as per its international commitmentsand aspiration of people of the valley.
Head of the delegation Dato Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid said that ASEANnations strongly supported the right of self-determination for Kashmiriswhich had been constantly been denied by India.
The manner, India was propagating the Kashmir issue, was a sheer defianceof its international commitments.
He informed the Speaker that an ASEAN Kashmir Advocacy Group was beingestablished for highlighting the Kashmir issue in its true perspective.
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He condemned the Indian forces for obstructing Kashmiris to perform theirreligious obligations.
He said that the delegation will visit Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Line ofControl to express solidarity with Kashmiri people.
He along with his other fellow parliamentarians would meet Speakers ofASEAN countries and apprise them about the Kashmir issue.
Earlier, both the sides expressed their satisfaction on the existingbilateral diplomatic and trade relations between Pakistan and ASEAN Region.
They expressed the need to further enhancing cooperation between the regionin diverse sectors.
The Speaker said that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was agame-changer for the region and enhancing inter-regional connectivity couldextend its benefits to the ASEAN region.
Dato Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid said that Pakistan was an important countryof the region and its efforts for peace and development were commendable.
He said that ASEAN area with a six hundred million population could becomea huge trading partner of Pakistan.
