Pakistan, Turkey to further strengthen bilateral ties

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan and Turkey on Wednesday agreed to pursue a joint strategy on matters of mutual interests at the international level, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.

The agreement came during a meeting between Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Islamabad.

Cavusoglu arrived on his three-day official visit to Pakistan late Tuesday to participate in a trilateral meeting with his Pakistani and Azerbaijani counterparts.

The two countries’ top diplomats expressed satisfaction over current bilateral relations between Islamabad and Ankara and stressed the need for implementation of a Pakistan-Turkey Strategic Economic Framework at the earliest, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Qureshi told his Turkish counterpart about human rights violations carried out by Indian forces in “the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” and thanked Ankara for its unwavering support to Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute.

He also briefed Cavusoglu on his country's conciliatory efforts to bring lasting peace in Afghanistan and said Pakistan will continue to support peace efforts to end the 19-year long conflict in the war-ravaged country.

“Shah Mehmood Qureshi welcomes similarities in views between the two countries at the international level” including the UN and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), read the statement.

The two foreign ministers agreed to adopt a joint strategy on issues of mutual interest at the international level and to make joint efforts to further strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Qureshi and Cavusoglu expressed deep concerns over growing international Islamophobia and vowed to adopt a joint strategy to protect Islamic values.

The Pakistani top diplomat also congratulated his Turkish counterpart over last summer’s natural gas discovery in the Black Sea.

For his part, the visiting foreign minister thanked Qureshi for Pakistan’s support and assistance on various Turkish issues.

Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – including two over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights groups, thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.

In August 2019, the Indian government revoked Kashmir’s special constitutional status, ending the Himalayan valley’s autonomy. It was also split into two federally administered territories.

Simultaneously, it locked the region down, detained thousands of people, imposed movement restrictions, and enforced a communications blackout.