Pak raises Kashmir issue at UN decolonisation meet

Pakistan on Saturday raised the Kashmir issue at a committee of the United Nations, saying that the "decolonisation agenda" of the world body would be incomplete without resolution of the problem.

Speaking at a special committee of the General Assembly that addresses the issue of decolonisation, Amjad Hussain B Sial, Pakistan's deputy permanent representative to the UN, asked the international community to support the Kashmiri people's "right to self-determination".

"The decolonisation agenda of the United Nations would be incomplete without resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue," he said.

"Negation of the right to self-determination breeds discontent, ignites conflicts and threatens peace and security. Unfortunately, South Asia and Middle East have witnessed it directly," Sial said.

The senior Pakistan diplomat also reaffirmed Islamabad's pledge to work through peaceful means to resolve its differences with New Delhi on the Kashmir issue, which is imperative for durable peace, stability and progress in the region.

The Special Committee on Decolonisation was created in 1962 by the UN General Assembly to support and monitor a resolution passed in 1960 that declared that all people have a right to self-determination.