Roundtable Session on “The Genesis of Kashmir Issue”

On 3rd September 2019,Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad organized a Roundtable Session on “The Genesis of Kashmir Issue”. The session commenced with the opening remarks by Major General Syed Khalid Amir Jaffery HI (M), (Retd) – President CGSS who thanked all the worthy participants and stressed on the importance of such discussion in aiding the process of policymaking. The agenda of the session was to highlight the historical background and facts of the Kashmir conflict and how we can move forward with these facts. Presently, the efforts made by the Pakistani Government were acknowledged by the participants but they all agreed on the point that much more needs to be done. It was discussed that we need a policy that covers the legal, political, diplomatic and military aspects in dealing with the Kashmir conflict. Up till now, we have focused on diplomatic solutions of the conflict but India has not reciprocated any offer by Pakistan to come on the dialogue table. India has very shrewdly planned the revocation of article 370. The purpose behind this action is to change the demographics of the valley and turn it into a state of Indian union territory. The international community’s response has been luke warm till now on the prevailing scenario in occupied Kashmir. This is because international community has economic, political and strategic interests in India. So far the steps taken by the government are satisfactory but clarity in the direction of the policy is required to achieve any concrete results. The policy options which were discussed by the participants included further enhancing our diplomatic efforts with precision. If pushed towards war we should not hesitate in responding with the full force. The world must provide Kashmiris with humanitarian assistance and aid under the respective United Nations resolutions.
The people of occupied Kashmir are looking towards us for assistance in providing them with the chance to exercise their right of self-determination. It’s time that we act in a mature way and formulate an effective policy regarding the resolution of this conflict.
Few of the prominent speakers of the session included:
a) Lieutenant General Naeem Khalid Lodhi (Retd), Former Federal Defence Minister of Pakistan.
b) Ambassador Abdul Basit, Former High Commissioner of Pakistan to India.
c) Mr. Ashfaq Ahmed Gondal, Former Federal Secretary of Information and Broadcasting and Member Advisory Board CGSS.
d) Ambassador Amjad Majid Abbasi, Senior Member Advisory Board, CGSS.
e) Dr. Muhammad Khan, Professor, Department of Politics and IR, International Islamic University, Islamabad.
The session was also addressed by 10 other prominent personalities of academic speakers and the event marked attendance of 30 people.