Foreign Secy urges int'l community to notice Kashmir crisis as UN marks 74th anniversary.

ISLAMABAD -- Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood on Thursday said the international community had the "moral and political responsibility" to immediately bring to an end the humanitarian nightmare in Indian Occupied Kashmir where the people suffered continuous denial of their fundamental rights.

Addressing the Islamabad-based diplomats here at an event held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to mark the 74th United Nations Day, the foreign secretary urged the need for urgent realization about the situation in Kashmir that was a grave threat to peace and security of the region.

"Nowhere is this more egregious than in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where a just struggle of a people to realize their inalienable right of self-determination, is being suppressed with brutal use of force," he said.

The Foreign Secretary said the inhuman lockdown imposed on eight million people since August 5 had created a dire human rights and humanitarian situation, over which the concerns of the Kashmiris, of Pakistanis, and of people of goodwill everywhere continued to grow.

He said the Security Council had the inescapable obligation to ensure full implementation of its relevant resolutions, stipulating a free and fair plebiscite under UN auspices, and enabling the people of Jammu and Kashmir exercise their right to self-determination.

Sohail Mahmood said the UN Day reminded of collective responsibility to abide by the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter.

"For us, in Pakistan, it is another occasion to renew our commitment to the realization of the Quaid's vision as well," he said, adding that Pakistan was proud of its collaboration with the United Nations, spread over more than seven decades.

He mentioned that multilateralism remained the cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign policy and said the country's contributions to the UN Peacekeeping were the most visible manifestation of this commitment.

As one of the largest and most consistent troop contributing country, Pakistan has contributed 200,000 peacekeepers to...