Pakistan Armed Forces Reaffirm Support for Kashmiris on Youm-e-Istehsal

RAWALPINDI: Marking Youm-e-Istehsal, Pakistan’s Military leadership on Wednesday reassure support for the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and their struggle for the right to self-determination. In a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defense Forces, Admiral Naveed Ashraf, Chief of the Naval Staff, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, Chief of the Air Staff, and the Armed Forces of Pakistan expressed complete solidarity with the Kashmiri people.

The military leadership reasserted that Pakistan’s Armed Forces would continue to support the Kashmiris’ inviolable right to self-determination, describing it as a right recognized under international law and the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. The statement paid tribute to the martyrs of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and pledged that the people and Armed Forces of Pakistan would continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Kashmiri people in what it described as their just struggle for freedom and rights.

The ISPR expressed serious concern over what it called the continued occupation of IIOJK by Indian security forces, alleging widespread human rights violations, prolonged military restrictions, and attempts to alter the demographic composition of the disputed territory. It further stated that such actions, along with provocative rhetoric, undermine regional stability and prolong the suffering of the Kashmiri people.

The statement emphasized that a just and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, remains essential for achieving lasting peace in South Asia. Pakistan observed Youm-e-Istehsal to mark seven years since India revoked Article 370 of its Constitution on August 5, 2019, ending the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and reorganizing the region into two union territories.