ISLAMABAD, JAN 05, (DNA) – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday stressed that Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of Pakistan’s identity.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of two-day international parliamentary seminar on Kashmir in Islamabad, the Prime Minister called Jammu & Kashmir Pakistan’s “jugular vein”.

“Our hearts beat and sink with our Kashmiri brethren. We share each moment of their pain and pleasures. We rejoice in their happiness and grieve in their gloom,” the premier said.

Pakistan will continue moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris, the Prime Minister said, and called for the Kashmir issue to be resolved as per United Nations resolutions.

“I salute people of Kashmiris for their spirit and determination,” he said. “Continuous sufferings of Kashmiris must come to an end.”

Speaking on the occasion, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that Jammu & Kashmir dispute is a stigma on the international process. Both Kashmir and Palestine are the two longest unresolved items on the UNSC agenda, he added.

Aziz said the denial of right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people promised by the international community as well as by the founding leaders of India has compounded the sufferings of the Kashmiri people.

Three successive generations in Kashmir are fighting for their right to self determination despite Indian atrocities in the region, the adviser pointed out.

Aziz also called upon India to end measures that alter the demography of Kashmir.

Pakistan is using every forum to raise voice for the Kashmir dispute and will continue to support Kashmiri people in their struggle to right to self-determination, he added.=DNA

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