ZULFIQAR AHMAD

ISLAMABAD: Terming brutal killing of defenceless Kashmiris by Indian forces 'genocide', Pakistan on Thursday said India is trying to convert Jammu and Kashmir into a Muslim minority area from an overwhelming Muslim majority state.

In his weekly press briefing, Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said, "Indian policy of killing innocent Kashmiris is part of a strategy to break the spirit of Kashmiris, alter the demography in Jammu and Kashmir and to convert it into a Muslim minority from an overwhelming Muslim majority state."

He said that human rights situation in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir is going from bad to worse, adding 15 Kashmiris, mostly youth, were killed this week, while eight were killed last week.

The statistics of Kashmiris' sufferings on various counts, as a result of Indian barbarities, and impunity with which Indian forces are committing the crimes against humanity, he added, challenge the credibility of international community's commitment to human rights, particularly the so-called protectors and defenders of human rights.

Besides killing Kashmiris in scores, he said that other measures India has taken are settling non-Kashmiris, accommodating Indian forces personnel who have been committing crimes against humanity, and exclusive colonies for political manipulation, etc.

"With these measures, India is bringing material change to the Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir, which is a violation of UNSC resolution on Jammu & Kashmir. India is also in grave violation of UN Charter and all the UN instruments on human rights and fundamental rights," he lamented.

He said Pakistan's contributions in fighting the scourge of terrorism, which is a global phenomenon and not specific to any one country, and the sacrifices and losses that our people and our country have suffered need no certification.

"World leaders have repeatedly recognized Pakistan's successes and sacrifices. Having suffered the most at the hands of terrorism, in which there is proven hand of our eastern neighbour India, Pakistan is engaged in counterterrorism operations to eradicate the menace from the country completely," he added.

Regarding settlement of Afghan conflict, he said that Pakistan believes that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan, adding the focus of international campaign since 2001 has been on a military approach.

"We believe this approach has not borne fruit and thus needs a revisit. The enduring solution to the protracted conflict in Afghanistan can only be achieved through reconciliation and peace talks," he added.

He continued that Pakistan has always welcomed and supported Afghan government's peace deal with Hizb-e-Islami, adding it can serve as a model for future talks with other insurgent groups, including Taliban.

"Pakistan will do all within its means to support the reconciliation process that has ownership of Afghan government. We support Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process," he maintained.

About casualties along Line of Control (LoC), he said that volume of Indian ceasefire violations on LoC in 2017, which occurred more than 600 times and resulted in over 34 casualties of civilians, speak volumes about the magnitude of these violations.

Zakaria said that Indian occupation forces have deliberately targeted civilians across LoC, and the reason India is doing all this is to divert international attention from barbarities and atrocities committed in IoK on defenceless Kashmiris.

He said that India also lies about infiltration from across LoC to malign the indigenous Kashmiri self-determination movement and Pakistan, adding this Indian lie was exposed in 2009 when International People's Tribunal (IPTK), an IoK-based NGO, discovered more than 6,000 unnamed and unmarked mass graves in IoK.

"When DNA tests and investigations were carried out by IPTK, it was revealed that those mercilessly killed and buried by Indian occupation forces were not infiltrators but local Kashmiri people who had been killed in fake encounters. It is in this context that we need to understand why India constantly violates LoC and keeps the border heated," he added.

About completion of some energy projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said many of the CPEC projects are in implementation phase while extensive planning is also underway on all others.

These projects include short-term (2020), medium-term (2025) and long-term (2030) projects. There are a number of projects especially in infrastructure and energy which will be completed by end 2017 and early 2018 in the early harvest phase.

Energy is an important segment of investments under CPEC. Seventy-two percent of the CPEC investment has been earmarked for energy projects. Coal, solar and hydropower projects conceived under CPEC will help address the energy shortfall as well to meet the developmental requirement in Pakistan. A few early harvest projects such as the 1320MW Sahiwal coal fired power plant has recently been inaugurated.

Zakaria lauded arrival of the speaker of the South Korean National Assembly Chung Sye-Kyun, who met Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, and "expressed keen interest in Korean investments in Pakistan and deepening economic cooperation."

He also strongly condemned Wednesday's bomb blast in Dir in which four army personnel were martyred.