Cont issues - ‘Things are getting worse in Kashmir’

Pakistani ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan said "things are getting worse" in India-administered Kashmir as the "complete lockdown" following the repeal of Articles 370 and 35a removed the contested territory's special status approached its one-month mark.

Khan pointed to widespread reports of "an uninterrupted curfew, restraining the movement of people and internet and telephone suspension" as well as instances of violence in the closed-off state.

Khan said cross-border relations were deteriorating along with conditions in India-administered Kashmir. He warned that "we are also clearly seeing an escalation on the Line of Control in the kind of weapons India is using."

"This is of immense concern," Khan added. "It's not just a serious and grave humanitarian crisis, but a danger to peace and security in the region."

Khan said Modi’s consolidation of power in Kashmir "impacts the final disposition regarding the people of Kashmir."

In an op-ed published Friday in The New York Times, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan discussed his frustration in attempting to reach out to Modi's government in past months. As the situation escalated in recent weeks, he warned: "If the world does nothing to stop the Indian assault on Kashmir and its people, there will be consequences for the whole world as two nuclear-armed states get ever closer to a direct military confrontation."

He pointed specifically to Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's comment that New Delhi has so far "strictly adhered" to its "no-first-use" nuclear weapons policy, but that "what happens in future depends on the circumstances."

Ambassador Khan highlighted that "Pakistan has acted with great restraint and responsibility.”

⁠Prime Minister Khan later reaffirmed his country's commitment to "no-first-use"⁠—but the envoy said that Singh's words were "an act of irresponsibility on India's part and the world should take notice of that."

The Pakistani diplomat further warned that such talk was the product of Modi having tried to "whip up a national frenzy to gain domestic political mileage."

The UN Human Rights Office and Amnesty International India recently painted a grim picture of deteriorating conditions under lockdown in Kashmir, including arbitrary arrests, a media blackout and swelling violence.

Raja Farooq Haider, the Prime Minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, also appealed for international support to free residents from what he called "the world's largest open-air prison."

"Ours is a principled position, ours is a position that seeks peace and justice for the people of Kashmir," Ambassador Khan said. "I'm here urging in Washington DC in conversation with our interlocutors at the State Department the importance of the US and the international community in de-escalating the situation."