India to request UK govt if Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi could be stopped from speaking at 3 February Kashmir event.
New Delhi: India’s High Commissioner to UK Ruchi Ghanshyam will officially put forward a request to the British government to cancel the event at its Parliament that is proposed to be attended by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi, where he is expected to talk about the Kashmir dispute.
“Our High Commissioner to UK is going to write to their government today and request if the Pakistani Foreign Minister can be stopped from speaking at the event,” a senior official from the Ministry of External Affairs told ThePrint.
Qureshi is expected to visit London this weekend and he is scheduled to speak at the House Commons, the lower house of the UK Parliament, on 3 February. He will be speaking on the occasion of ‘Kashmir Day’ celebrations there.
According to sources, Qureshi is going to speak on the “human right violations by the Indian armed forces there” and killing of innocent civilians in Kashmir in the name of containing terrorism.
Also read: Pakistan defends foreign minister’s call to Kashmir separatist, says India’s censure a travesty
‘Sensitivities’
“UK is aware about our sensitivities in the matter. As a friendly country and as a strategic partner we hope that government of UK will address our concerns which we have explained to them on the proposed conference which very clearly is intended to undermine the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of India,” said Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, Thursday.
“As far as the event itself is concerned, there is no doubt that this again exposes Pakistan’s duplicity when they talk about peace on one hand and when they work together with forces which is fomenting anti-India sentiments. We have taken it up with UK but we do hope that they do understand our proposed objection to this,” the MEA spokesperson added.
Kumar also expressed India’s displeasure at a recent incident that took place in UK when the Indian flag was burnt on Republic Day by a group of protestors comprising Kashmiri separatists and pro-Khalistani people.
Also read: Kashmir remains a challenge due to Pakistan’s destabilising activities, says Rajnath Singh
‘Will raise the issue’
Meanwhile, Pakistan has said that they will continue to raise the issue of Kashmir on international platforms.
Matters heated up Tuesday after Qureshi telephoned separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to discuss about Kashmir. Islamabad justified its engagement with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader and stated that it “categorically rejects the objections raised by India”.
“The Kashmir issue remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council,” it added.
The reaction came after Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood was called by South Block, which houses India’s Ministry of External Affairs, way past normal working hours, at 10.30 pm Wednesday.
Mahmood was summoned by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.
The move led Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua to also call upon India’s envoy to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria, who is believed to have reiterated India’s stand of not letting the separatists come in between India and Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir.
Last year in November, the All-Party Parliamentary Kashmir Group (APPKG) in the UK Parliament condemned India for using “excessive force against Kashmiris and refusing to allow independent observers” from Britain to enter into Jammu and Kashmir to monitor the true scale of “human rights tragedy.”
This was launched by Labour MP Chris Leslie, who is the chair of the APPKG.