Fai questioned the statement of India’s foreign ministry spokesman who said that Kashmir was an integral part of India. Kashmir is not an integral part of India, nor are Kashmiris separatists, he underlined. Because under all international agreements between India and Pakistan, negotiated by the United Nations and endorsed by the Security Council, Kashmir does not belong to any member country of the United Nations. So, the claim that Kashmir is an integral part of India does not stand. The people of Kashmir are not and cannot be called separatists because they cannot secede from a country to which they have never acceded to in the first place.
Even one of India’s well-known author, Ms. Arundhati Roy confirmed it by saying ‘It’s (Kashmir) not ever been really a part of India, which is why it’s ridiculous for the Indian government to keep saying it’s an integral part of India.’
Fai discounted the United States hopes that the Kashmir dispute could be settled through bilateral peaceful talks between India and Pakistan. He recounted the litany of failed bilateral efforts and said that the people of Kashmir have steadfastly maintained that tripartite talks are the only way to resolve the Kashmir issue.
We hope that the United States and the international community will realize that what is at stake in the dispute is not only the survival of the people of Kashmir but also the peace and stability in the region of South Asia, Fai stressed.