Thursday, 4 February 2021.

PRESIDENT HOUSE, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Statement by AHMED QURAISHI | Executive Director, YFK-International Kashmir Lobby Group.

EVENT | President of Pakistan | Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad-ISSI | National Security Division-NSD.

1. The Honorable Mr. President, the Honorable Foreign Minister, the Honorable National Security Advisor, distinguished guests, and especially the teams at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the National Security Division (NSD), thank you for this opportunity to join you today.
2. The people of Kashmir, and Pakistan, are not India’s enemies.
3. We can live peacefully in this region. Coexist. And Prosper.
4. It is India’s choice – and not a compulsion, but a choice – to prolong a political dispute [in Kashmir] and turn it into an endless religious and cultural war. And now, a humanitarian tragedy.
5. This is a choice that India’s political leadership embraced, across the aisle, and forced the good people of India, Pakistan, and the people of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, on a path of conflict.
6. India’s past leaderships failed to show the magnanimity that a large country can afford.
7. Despite this, Pakistan and Kashmiris remained magnanimous for the first half-century of this conflict, conducting trade and cultural exchange in the hope that warm contact would soften hearts and spur a compromise.
8. But too much has happened for anyone to suggest that Pakistan and Kashmiris can simply forget what happened and move on. We need a peaceful closure. We need peace.
9. You need closure when UN human rights experts extensively report on thousands of unmarked mass graves, and dozens of documented cases of gang rapes by soldiers.
10. Today, Kashmir is the worst example of military occupation, unique and unparalleled in its depravity. Cannot be compared to any other example.
11. But there is a positive change in the global narrative on Kashmir. The K-word is no longer a taboo.
12. This positive change in the discourse paves the way for a possible similar breakthrough in diplomacy.
13. Kashmiris have been wronged for 74 years. They deserve answers.
14. We wish India well. We seek peace. And peace is possible through justice, conflict resolution, and the right to self-determination in Kashmir.

I thank you.

• Video | Statement by Ahmed Quraishi at President House Ceremony | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTY-U-9TTb0
• ISSI Press Release | https://issi.org.pk/press-release-pakistan-stands-with-kashmiris
• ISSI website report | https://issi.org.pk/press-release-pakistan-stands-with-kashmiris
• Mr. Quraishi’s Video Statement | https://youtu.be/cvCBDyUwNGs
• Full Live Video, including the statements of the President Arif Alvi, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, National Security Advisor Dr. Moeed Yusuf, Amb. Aizaz Chaudhry, Director General ISSI, and Mushaal Hussain Mullick, wife of jailed Kashmir politician Yasin Malik | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFot0M2iVos