Unfair To Label Kashmiris Demanding Freedom As Terrorists, Says Pakistan’s Foreign Office

Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) today (27 June) criticised the move to call supporters of Kashmiri terrorists, terrorists. The Office said it would continue to back the movement, going so far as to call it the ‘right to self-determination’, as reported by Dawn.

The statement comes a day after the United States Department of State designated Hizbul Mujahideen chief Mohammad Yusuf Shah, also known as Syed Salahuddin, as a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist'.

The FO repeated Pakistan's longstanding claim on countering terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations", while describing terrorism in Kashmir as a legitimate insurgency. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs further claimed that there was "gross and systematic violations of human rights of the Kashmiri people" in Jammu and Kashmir.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria asserted that Pakistan would keep providing political, diplomatic and moral support for the Kashmiri “independence” movement and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions.