Indian SC's verdict on status of Kashmir will have no value on its disputed nature: IPS.

ISLAMABAD -- The burning Kashmir issue should be seen as an international armed conflict and a matter of illegal occupation, annexation and settler colonialism and all unilateral actions by the Indian government or court verdict to legitimize them have no legal standing in the eyes of the UN, the world community and international law, says a Press release.

This was discussed during the 22nd meeting of the Institute of Policy Studies' Working Group on Kashmir (IPS-WGK), a body of experts and opinion leaders on Kashmir affairs, under the title 'Article 370 in the Indian Supreme Court: Arguments, Outcomes and the Way Forward.' The hybrid session, chaired by Khalid

Rahman, chairman IPS, was addressed by Ambassador (Retd) Syed Abrar Hussain, vice chairman IPS, Sheikh Abdul Mateen, special representative of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chairman Masarrat Alam Bhat, Dr Asma Shakir Khawaja, executive director, Centre of International Studies (CISS), Muzaffarabad, AJK, Iftikhar Gillani, senior Kashmiri journalist based in Ankara, Ambassador (r) Ishtiaq Hussain Andrabi, Advocate Imran Shafiq, international law expert, Advocate Nasir Qadri, executive director, Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFK), Dr Sheikh Waleed Rasool, Kashmiri academician and activist, Dr Khurram Abbas, director, India Study Centre, Institute of Strategic Studies,

Islamabad (ISSI), Reema Shoukat, communication strategist, Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), among others, and moderated by Farzana Yaqoob, former AJ and K minister and general secretary IPS-WGK.

The experts were of the view that the Indian attempts to change the status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) do not alter the international recognition of the issue and validity of UN resolutions, especially Resolution 47, which calls on India "to hold a plebiscite as soon as possible on the question of the accession" of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan.

Thus, international resolutions remain fundamental in strengthening the case for Pakistan and Kashmiris. The Indian Supreme Court last month reserved its judgment on petitions challenging the revocation, through an act of parliament on August 5, 2019, of Articles 35-A and 370 of the Indian constitution, which accorded Jammu and Kashmir a special autonomous status. In this backdrop, Khalid Rahman stressed the need to remain consistent and innovative in advocacy.

He underscored that the Kashmir cause needs to be echoed through robust and proactive...