ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan foreign minister, defence minister and national security advisor on Monday visited the Line of Control, the de facto border that separates the parts of the disputed Kashmir valley governed by Pakistan and India, ahead of the one year anniversary of India stripping the region of its autonomy.
On August 5, 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi split the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two federally controlled territories and took away its special privileges. New Delhi troops flooded into the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, where insurgents have fought since the 1990s. India detained thousands, imposed harsh movement restrictions and forced a communications blackout.
Many of those measures have since been eased, but the internet remains throttled and a subsequent COVID-19 lockdown - India has the world’s third-highest coronavirus infections and rising fast - has forced millions of Kashmiris to stay in their homes for 12 months.
“We are going there [to the Line of Control] to show solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris,” foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters before his departure for Chirikot sector in Azad Kashmir, the part of the Himalayan valley that Pakistan rules. “We want to assure the Kashmiris at the LoC that the Pakistani nation is with them.”
Last week, Pakistan announced it would observe 'Yaum-e-Istehsal', or Day of Exploitation, on August 5 to show solidarity with the people of Indian-administered Kashmir. Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to visit Muzaffarabad on that day and address the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
“We need to jointly deliver a message to the Kashmiris that we will not fail them,” Qureshi had said at a press conference, announcing the day of solidarity. “My Kashmiri brothers and sisters we can feel your difficulty, we realise the oppression that you have endured. But, remember you are not alone. Every Pakistani is standing by your side and is raising voice for your cause.”
