'Internationalise' Kashmir Issue.............

No Choice But to 'Internationalise' Kashmir Issue: Pakistan Journalist

NEW YORK: Senior Pakistani journalist Wajahat Khan has said that Islamabad has been left with no option but to ‘internationalise’ the issue of Kashmir in the absence and failure of a bilateral effort by India.

“When bilateralism fails, which has happened in the last year and a half since Mr. Modi’s Government has taken over and produced new and redundant redlines in this 21 year-old peace process, multilateralism kick in. Pakistan has no other choice but to internationalise the issue. Because there is no talking, then the walking has to be done in New York,” Khan told ANI here.

The Pakistani journalist also spoke about how Pakistan has been relentless and open in its attempts to talk with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders.

“The APHC is probably the best face for any country to deal with the reality of Kashmiri separatism. Nobody wants to talk to terrorists but the All Parties Hurriyat Conference are non-violent. It was in this spirit that the Government of India had allowed successive Pakistani regimes, governments, officers and presidents to engage with the APHC for 21 years,” Khan said.

He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of changing the rules since he assumed office and said that he was responsible for the ‘breakdown of talks’ and ‘relationships going south’.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to address the Sustainable Development Summit hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on September 27.

Sharif will address the annual debate of the UNGA on September 30, a day before External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addresses the gathering of world leaders on October 1.