New York – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday boycottedthe speech of his Indian counterpart at the meeting of the South AsianAssociation for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) being held on the sidelines ofthe 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In a statement, Qureshi said he walked out from the ministerial conferenceof the SAARC – regional intergovernmental organisation and geopoliticalunion of states in South Asia – in protest against India’s scrapping ofspecial rights of disputed Jammu Kashmir region, and a consistent clampdownthere.
“India has to ensure the fundamental human rights of Kashmiris. There willbe no talks until India lifts the curfew and stop human rights violationsin the occupied Kashmir,” Qureshi said.
Qureshi boycotted S Jaishankar’s opening statement at the meeting of theSAARC Council of Foreign Ministers in New York, saying his country will notengage with India “until and unless” it lifts the “siege” in Kashmir.
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Qureshi “refuses to attend Indian Minister of External Affairs SubrahmanyamJaishankar’s statement at the meeting of SAARC Council of Ministers,”Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tweeted. Pakistan will not engage with India“until and unless they lift the siege” in Kashmir, it said.
