Pakistan on Friday said the resolution of the Kashmir issue remains important for any meaningful engagement with India, reported Dawn. The Foreign Office also expressed “concern” about the situation in Indian administered Kashmir. 

“We believe durable peace, security, and development in the region hinge on peaceful resolution of the long-standing Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” Zahid Hafeez Chaudhary, the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Foreign Office, was quoted as saying by Dawn.

He also added that Pakistan believed in a peaceful resolution of this longstanding issue between the two nations. 

Further stressing on conditions in the region, he claimed, “We remain concerned over the grave human rights situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).” 

“Pakistan has been consistently sensitizing the international community about the continuing military siege, extrajudicial killings, incarceration of the Kashmiri leadership, and unprecedented restrictions on fundamental freedoms of the Kashmiri people,” he added.

 Pakistan has never hesitated from dialogue, he claimed, and has always underscored the need for a meaningful resolution of the Kashmir issue. 

On the role of any third party in the bilateral disputes, he claimed, “we have always maintained that the international community has an important role to play in averting risks to peace and stability in the region and facilitating a just and lasting solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.”