Islamabad: Extending his warm felicitations to American president Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Haaris on the historic win in the recent elections the Chainman Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) Altaf Hussain Wani has expressed the hope that the new US administration will play a significant role seeking a just and equitable solution to Kashmir dispute.
In a felicitation letter addressed to Mr. Joe Biden the KIIR chief while referring to the United States’ stance on the issue of Kashmir said, “Being a strong proponent of Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, the United States of America has always supported and stressed for a just settlement of Kashmir dispute through peaceful means”. He reminded the president-elect that it was under the direction of President Harry Truman, the then president of the United States that the US ambassador to the UN, Ambassador Huston wrote the historic resolution that gave legitimacy to the Kashmir issue. He regrettably noted that India’s perpetual denial to grant Kashmiris’ their birth right has thrown the region into a quagmire of uncertainty and violence that continue to take a heavy toll on the civilian population.
Hailing President Biden’s pragmatism and statesmanship qualities the letter said, “Mr. President, your election as the president of United Sates of America has generated a wave of optimism across the globe particularly amongst marginalized and oppressed people who genuinely believe that this much needed change in the US administration would lead to an end of prevailing injustices, xenophobia, hatred and intolerance in third world countries like India where minority communities have suffered terribly following the imposition of fascist apartheid laws under the BJP’s role”.
“Likewise, in Indian occupied part of Jammu and Kashmir, millions of Kashmiris who have been reeling under the yoke of Indian military occupation for over seven decades are looking forward to your Excellency’s pivotal and proactive role helping Kashmiris to exercise their birthright, the right to self-determination guaranteed to them under the UNSC resolutions”, the KIIR chairman said.
Appreciating President Biden’s recent statements in which he had emphasized on the restoration of Kashmiris’ fundamental freedoms, he said, “We expect that the policy being precisely articulated by your highness as well as the vice president-elect Kamala Harris on the situation in Kashmir will also reflect in the American State policy, which will hopefully go a long way in mitigating the unending sufferings of Kashmiri people”.
The struggling people of the Indian occupied Kashmir Wani said were also looking forward to a deeper level of engagement on the part of the new US administration to seek a just and peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue, which he said has been a major cause and consequence of the rights violations in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Highlighting the importance of the conflict resolution the KIIR chairman hoped that the US under the stewardship of president Biden would make conflict resolution a priority rather than managing the conflicts. He maintained that real peace in the world could only be ensured by resolving disputes particularly the festering Kashmir conflict that continues to threaten peace and stability in the South Asian region.
