Pakistan Reaffirms Support for Kashmiris' Right to Self-Determination: PM

Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said his country would continue to support the right of Kashmiris to self-determination, invoking longstanding United Nations resolutions on the disputed region, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

"For eight decades, the Kashmiri people have waited for the United Nations to fulfil its solemn commitment of a free and impartial plebiscite under its auspices. Generations have endured illegal occupation, arbitrary extra-judicial killings, detention, enforced disappearances, sexual violence and collective punishment," the prime minister said, according to APP.

The reference to a plebiscite relates to UN Security Council resolutions from the late 1940s that called for a vote to determine the future of Kashmir following the partition of British India, a vote that has never taken place. Kashmir has remained divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, with both countries claiming the territory in full and India also facing a separate claim from China over part of the region.

Sharif's remarks reflect Pakistan's consistent position at international forums, where it has regularly called for implementation of the UN resolutions and raised concerns about human rights conditions in Indian-administered Kashmir. India has rejected such characterizations and maintains that Kashmir is an integral part of the country.

APP's report did not specify the venue of the prime minister's remarks.