Pak briefs China on ‘rights violations’ in Kashmir

From Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Aug 23 (PTI) Continuing with its efforts tointernationalise the Kashmir issue, Pakistan has briefed Chinaabout alleged human rights violations in Kashmir during theirbilateral strategic dialogue. Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who is on atwo-day visit to China, attended the bilateral strategicdialogue meeting and also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yiin Beijing during his trip, the Pakistan Foreign Office saidin a statement. The seventh round of Strategic Dialogue between Pakistanand China was held yesterday in Beijing where Chaudhry led thePakistani delegation while the Chinese side was headed byAssistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Asian and ConsularAffairs Kong Xuanyou. Chaudhry apprised his counterpart of the "gravehumanitarian situation" in Kashmir and the ongoing "humanrights violations", the statement said. "He (Chaudhry) expressed the hope that the internationalcommunity would play its role in calling on India to put anend to blatant human rights violations in the Valley," theForeign Office said. Both sides held detailed discussions on the entirespectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and China,including the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), economic cooperation, defence, counter-terrorism,Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, culture, education andpeople to people contact. The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation inall areas for the mutual benefit of the two countries. The Foreign Secretary and his Chinese counterpart alsoexchanged views on regional situation including India,Afghanistan and South China Sea. Cooperation in multilateral forums including at the UN wasalso discussed, the statement said. The two sides also exchanged views on regional and globalissues of mutual interest. They agreed to continue to sharetheir respective perspective, it said. PTI SH ASKASK