London, May 25, 2023 (PPI-OT): British parliamentarian Imran Hussain in a letter to the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that by agreeing to hold the Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting in Srinagar, the G20 nations have disregarded established international laws on disputed territories and have conveyed legitimacy upon New Delhi’s brutal and illegal military occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the letter, the member of British Parliament Imran Hussain said, “I am writing to you regarding the deplorable decision to hold the 2023 G20 Culture Working Group Summit in Srinagar in Indian occupied Kashmir, and the confirmation that the UK Government will attend this summit, despite the serious concerns around breaches of international law regarding the status of Kashmir.”
The letter further said, “The status of Kashmir remains disputed and has remained disputed for over 75 years following the partition of the subcontinent. Given its disputed status, it has therefore been the accepted position amongst the majority of the international community that the future status of Kashmir was unresolved, and that it was dependent upon the outcome of a free and fair plebiscite in the region that would grant Kashmiris their birth right of self-determination, as mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 47”.
MP Imran Hussain said that after learning that UK delegates had attended the G20 meeting in Srinagar, he was therefore deeply alarmed to discover that the British government has now seemingly chosen to take sides and become involved in the dispute, despite previous statements to the contrary. In doing so, he pointed out, the UK has helped add dangerous legitimacy to the Indian government’s military occupation and illegal claim over Kashmir. Instead of lending international credibility to this false claim, the UK government should have upheld its position as an independent arbitrator in the dispute by joining delegations from several other countries in boycotting the Srinagar event, he added.
The letter urged Rishi Sunak to clarify that the attendance of UK delegates to the G20 TWG meeting in Srinagar didn’t reflect a change in the UK government’s stance in the region, particularly given his government’s clear increasing willingness to compromise in order to achieve a trade deal with the Indian government. MP Imran Hussain further urged the UK Prime Minister to make clear that his government acknowledges IIOJK is an occupied and disputed territory, does not recognise the Indian government’s illegal claim over the region and commits to upholding the UN Security Council resolutions that demand a free and fair plebiscite for the Kashmiris.
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