June 25. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Pakistani government has expressed this Saturday its deep discomfort at India’s intention to hold a G-20 summit in Kashmir under Indian control in 2023.
As published by the newspaper ‘The Indian Express’, the regional department of Housing and Urbanism issued a document on Thursday that reveals the formation of a five-member commission to coordinate the event after receiving a communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated 4 June. This would be the first high-level summit held in Kashmir after the suspension of regional autonomy in August 2019.
In response, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry has condemned this idea and has recalled that Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed region.
It has also denounced the “widespread atrocities and egregious human rights violations” and in particular the death of “639 innocent Kashmiris” in “extrajudicial executions” since the suspension of autonomy, on August 5, 2019.
For this reason, the celebration of a G-20 summit supposes a “contempt for a dispute recognized at the international level” and has described as “mockery” that the international community can even contemplate its celebration, for which it has urged the G-20 to reject the proposal and to promote the holding of a self-determination referendum in Kashmir.
Pakistan and India have disputed the region of historical Kashmir since 1947 and have fought over it in two of the three wars they have had since independence from the United Kingdom. In 1999 there was a brief but intense military confrontation between the two nuclear powers and since 2003 a fragile truce has been maintained.
In recent months, tension has increased due to the strong repression of the Indian security forces and the suspension of the autonomy of the Jammu and Kashmir region since August 2019.
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