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ISLAMABAD: While the nation is observing Youm-e-Istehsal-e-Kashmir, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed that the just settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains a cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy.
He urged the international community to halt Indian human rights violations in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and to reverse the unilateral measures of August 5, 2019.
In his message, the prime minister called on the world to press India to repeal “draconian laws” and to implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
“On this Youm-e-Istehsal, the Government of Pakistan and I reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with our Kashmiri sisters and brothers,” he said, denouncing India’s attempts to alter IIOJK’s demographic and political structure in defiance of international law.
Terming the day a “sobering reminder” of India’s rejection of peace and reliance on “brutality and unilateralism,” the premier accused New Delhi of sustaining an “eight-decade regime of state terrorism and oppression.”
He lauded the Kashmiri people’s “unwavering resilience and spirit of sacrifice,” condemned the imprisonment of leaders including Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, and Masarrat Alam Bhatt, and asserted that the Kashmir dispute remains the “defining conflict of South Asia” and the driver of India’s “rogue behavior.”
Referring to India’s “unprovoked aggression” against Pakistan in May 2025 and its “swift and comprehensive military defeat,” he said the episode underscored the urgency for a just settlement in line with Kashmiri aspirations and UN resolutions.
The prime minister concluded by reaffirming Pakistan’s moral, political, and diplomatic support for the Kashmiri people until they achieve their inalienable right to self-determination.
