Bilawal Bhutto concedes Pakistan faces ‘hurdles’ in its Kashmir campaign
United Nations: Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has conceded that his country hasn’t made headway in its Kashmir campaign at the United Nations and elsewhere in general.
“As far as the hurdles we face within the UN and in general, as far as the Kashmir cause is concerned, that still exists,” Bilawal, who is leading a delegation of Pakistani parliamentarians, said at a news conference here on Tuesday.
He asserted that in his meetings with UN officials and diplomats, he found “receptiveness” on issues like terrorism and water, but it did not extend to Kashmir.
Bilawal, who is the Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, dismissed an attempt by a Palestinian journalist to equate Kashmir and Gaza, a familiar ploy that some Pakistanis have also used.
“Let me emphasise from the outset, there is, there’s no meaningful comparison that I can make between the plight of the Palestinians and the plight of Pakistan, the plight of Kashmir,” he said.
“What we’re seeing in Gaza, what we’re seeing in Palestine, is uniquely outrageous, inhumane and condemnable in all shapes, forms and terms,” he added.
But he went on to allege that India was drawing its inspiration from Israel and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to model himself on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but was nowhere near him.
Bilawal’s delegation was modeled by Islamabad after the all-party delegations India has been sending around the world to explain its policy of zero-tolerance for terrorism and the Operation Sindoor that was launched against terrorist facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir after the massacre of 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
After arriving in New York on Monday, the Pakistani delegation met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, General Assembly President Philemon Yang, Security Council President Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, and permanent representatives of the US, China, Russia, France to the UN, and the non-permanent members of the Council.
They are due to be in Washington on Wednesday, when the Indian Parliamentay delegation led by Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor will also be there.