Pakistan urges UN to implement resolutions for settlement of Kashmir issue

Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, has urged the international community, specifically the United Nations Security Council, to turn resolutions into real actions aimed at resolving the long-standing dispute over Jammu and Kashmir. During a meeting hosted by Pakistan, the ambassador highlighted the dangers of unresolved tensions, particularly with two nuclear-armed nations involved.

He also mentioned the ongoing struggles in the Palestinian territories and Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir as a test of international law's power and the UN Security Council's reliability. Nearly eight decades ago, the Security Council, via numerous resolutions, set the stage for a peaceful resolution via a free and impartial plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir to gauge the people's choice.

This promise, however, has yet to be met while the violence from Indian forces continues to escalate. Reports from 2018 and 2019 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), along with several communications by UN Special Procedures, have raised alarm over excessive force, arbitrary arrests, widespread torture, forced disappearances, sexual violence, impunity, and limitations on basic rights.

For example, in a joint communication from UN Special Procedures on October 16, 2025, they expressed grave concern over the arrest and detention of about 2,800 individuals, including journalists and human rights activists; the demolition of homes; blocking of around 8,000 social media accounts; and 64 documented cases of hate speech, intimidation, and dehumanization targeting Kashmiris and Muslims in a brief span from April 22 to May 2, 2025.

Moreover, Ahmad stated that India's unilateral actions on August 5, 2019, which altered domicile, land ownership, and political representation, led to illegal demographic shifts, coupled with curbs on political activity, expression, and religious freedom. He demanded an end to Israel's occupation, emphasizing that Palestinians must live in freedom and dignity, exercising their right to self-determination.

He reiterated that nowhere has the reliability of the international legal order been more painfully challenged than in Gaza, a region ravaged by immense destruction, displacement, and deprivation. Gaza serves as a stark reminder of whether the basic principles of international humanitarian law apply uniformly and without exception.

The ultimate goal, Ahmad stressed, is to bring an end to occupation, enabling the Palestinian people to live in freedom, dignity, and as an independent and sovereign state on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.