ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former envoy to the United Nations Dr Maleeha Lodhi on Thursday questioned the “halt” in Kashmir diplomacy as she emphasised on sustained efforts for resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

“Right now there is an inexplicable halt in our Kashmir diplomacy. People ask why?” Dr Lodhi told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee while speaking on ‘Pakistan’s Foreign Policy, Challenges and Opportunities’.

The government has lately been severely criticised for not effectively pursuing the case of Kashmir. This criticism has not only come from the opposition, but also from within the federal cabinet. However, the Foreign Office has in the past rejected the criticism saying it was not “shy or negligent” on Kashmir and remained “dedicated to taking it forward”.

The struggle for liberation of Kashmir from Indian occupation had entered a new phase after the martyrdom of Burhan Wani in July 2016, but there has been an unprecedented surge in anti-India sentiments in the valley since the annexation of occupied territory by India in Aug last year.

Fearing resentment and public outcry against its move to forcibly annex Kashmir, Indian authorities imposed a lockdown in the valley; curbed freedom of expression, assembly and religion for Kashmiris living in the valley; and cut off internet. Thousands of Kashmiris were detained.

Many believe that the Pakistan government had failed to fully back Kashmiris during this crucial period and there was little beyond holding rallies and issuing statements expressing solidarity.

Dr Lodhi called for clarity and consistency in Pakistan’s Kashmir policy. “It is too serious a matter to be reduced to occasional tweets of solidarity,” she maintained.

“We need consistency in our diplomatic campaign on Kashmir; not an on-off approach. We need to match the noise we make at home with real and substantive efforts overseas. And we need to keep pushing the boundaries at the international level,” she added.

Dr Lodhi warned that the Kashmir issue could lose international focus, if urgent steps were not taken for convening a ministerial meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva exclusively on occupied Kashmir.

The former envoy was generally critical of the FO’s performance.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2020