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Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has slammed New Delhi for “abusing” its presidency of the G20 by holding a tourism conference in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), saying the one event cannot silence the voice of Kashmiris.

It is the first diplomatic event in the Himalayan disputed territory since Pakistan suspended trade and diplomatic ties with India in 2019, when New Delhi abrogated the semi-autonomous status of its only Muslim-majority region and enforced a heavy security lockdown.

“I wish I could say I was surprised, but I think that this is a continuation in what is becoming a norm now, of India’s arrogance on the international stage,” he told AFP in a Monday interview in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

“They’re abusing their presidency of the G20 to push their colonial agenda, but if they think that by holding one event in IIOJK they can silence the voice of the Kashmiri people, then I believe that they are truly mistaken.”

The G20 participants — made up of the European Union and the world’s 19 top economies — have been “put in a pretty awkward spot”, said the foreign minister.

“Those countries who make it a point to remind us and protest how outrageous it is that international law has been violated in Europe: I believe that they should be just as outraged when international law is violated in IIOJK,” he said, in a reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

China, which also claims the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in full as part of Tibet, has stood by Pakistan in condemning the meeting to promote tourism in the area — renowned for its lakes, meadows and snow-capped mountains.

Muslim nations Saudi Arabia and Turkiye are not sending government representation, while some Western countries have scaled back their presence, according to reports.

India is attempting to portray what officials have called “normalcy and peace” in the violence-wracked region by inviting the international community to a sprawling, well-guarded venue on the shores of Dal Lake in Srinagar.

Over the past week, the IIOJK residents have chafed under stepped-up security measures. Hundreds have been detained in police stations and thousands including shopkeepers have received calls from officials warning them against any “signs of protest or trouble”.

“One of the most militarised zones in the world can never be seen as normal,” said Bilawal.

FM Bilawal also ruled out any chance of a warming of ties between the two countries unless New Delhi revoked the change in status of the disputed Himalayan region.

“Until this topic is addressed, it really stands in the way of peace in all of South Asia,” he added. Without it, no “meaningful dialogue” could begin on shared threats including militancy and worsening climate change.

The crackdown in IIOJK was ordered by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who since coming to power in 2014 has increasingly used religious polarisation to mobilise the Hindu majority.

Next year, he will seek a third term in power at elections.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has arrived in China, Moscow’s foreign ministry said, for a visit in which he will meet with President Xi Jinping and ink a series of deals on infrastructure and trade.

Mishustin arrived late Monday in Shanghai, the ministry said, where he was greeted at the airport by Moscow’s ambassador to China Igor Morgulov and Beijing’s top diplomat to Russia Zhang Hanhui.

He will take part in a Russian-Chinese Business Forum and visit a petrochemical research institute in Shanghai, the Kremlin said, as well as hold talks with “representatives of Russian business circles”.

That forum has invited a number of sanctioned Russian tycoons — including from the key fertiliser, steel and mining sectors — as well as Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who handles energy issues, Bloomberg reported.

China last year became the top energy customer for Russia, whose gas exports had otherwise plummeted after a flurry of Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.

Mishustin will then travel to Beijing, where he will meet with Xi and Premier Li Qiang, Russian state media TASS has said.

China and Russia have in recent years ramped up economic cooperation and diplomatic contacts, with their strategic partnership having only grown closer since the invasion of Ukraine.

While China says it is a neutral party in that war, it has refused to condemn Russia for the invasion.

In February, Beijing released a paper calling for a “political settlement” to the conflict, which Western countries said could enable Russia to hold much of the territory it has seized in Ukraine.

During a March summit in Moscow, Xi invited President Vladimir Putin to visit Beijing.

Analysts say China holds the upper hand in the relationship with Russia, and that its sway is growing as Moscow’s international isolation deepens.

A witness saw investigators pull a Nazi swastika flag from inside the truck, which plowed into barriers at Lafayette Square, a public area one block from the White House compound.

President Joe Biden’s exact location at the time of the crash just before 10pm (0200 GMT Tuesday) was unclear. He had met Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy at the White House earlier on Monday evening.

The driver, identified as Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri, was detained by the Secret Service.

Kandula faces a battery of charges, including threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on the president, vice president or a family member, the US Park Police said in a statement. No weapons were found inside the truck, a police spokesperson said.

Authorities have said nothing about what might have been behind the crash, which caused no injuries.

But ABC News, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, reported that Kandula told investigators he wanted to take over the government and kill the president. Authorities were looking into the suspect’s mental health, the network reported.

On Tuesday morning, there was little sign of the incident other than a black skid mark on a curb, a few Park rangers surveying the scene and some remaining TV crews.

The crash took place across the street from the Hay-Adams hotel and St John’s Episcopal Church, two of Washington’s historic sites.

For decades, Lafayette Square has been a prominent site for political protests and free-speech events. It was closed off in May 2020 by a perimeter fence installed after the Black Lives Matter protests. The fence has since been ,removed but barriers blocking traffic from the side streets remain.

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir emphasised Monday that “every soldier and officer of the armed forces put his duty and responsibilities first regardless of regional, linguistic, and political prejudices and distinctions”.

A strong army is the guarantor of a country’s security and unity, he underscored while addressing an award ceremony for martyrs and officials at the General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi.

In a statement, the military’s media affairs wing said that 51 officials were awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz (military), 22 were awarded the Tamgha-i-Basalat and two officials were awarded special United Nations medals.

They were awarded for their “acts of gallantry during operations and meritorious services rendered to the nation”.

A large number of senior army officials and families of martyrs attended the event.

“Undoubtedly, we are living in a free atmosphere due to the martyrs’ sense of duty and their great sacrifices,” Gen Munir said. He termed the martyrs’ sacrifices and officials’ services a “valuable asset” and “source of pride” for the country.

“The Pakistan Army, as an institution, always remembers every individual associated with the army and his family, and our relationship as a family is a proud and exemplary one,” the COAS said.

He condemned the attacks on military installations and martyrs’ monuments — that were carried out by enraged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters in days-long riots following the arrest of chairman Imran Khan — and termed them “extremely saddening and intolerable”.

He also announced that May 25 would be marked as “Pakistan Martyrs’ Day”.

The army chief’s comments come days after the military refuted rumours of disunity in its ranks. During the violent protests that only simmered down after Khan’s release, reports circulated that army officers had resigned due to the ongoing chaos.

Snubbing those reports, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry had told Geo News’ Shahzeb Khanzada, “despite all-out efforts of internal miscreants and external enemies, the army remains united under Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.”

“The dreams of creating division within the army will remain dreams. Neither anyone has resigned nor disobeyed any order,” the army’s spokesperson added.

After the supporters attacked army installations, the ISPR said that May 9, 2023 — the day when chaos gripped the nation following Khan’s arrest — would go down in history as a “dark chapter”.

The military also announced that all those who had vandalised military installations, including the Lahore Corps Commanders House and the GHQ entrance, would be tried under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secret Act.

The driver of the truck has been apprehended, as confirmed by a spokesperson from the US Secret Service.

The crash occurred late in the evening, prompting an immediate response from law enforcement authorities.

“There were no injuries to any Secret Service or White House personnel and the cause and manner of the crash remain under investigation,” said Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the US Secret Service, via Twitter.

 

As a precautionary measure, several roads and pedestrian walkways in the area were temporarily closed.

According to reports, people present at the nearby Hay Adams hotel were evacuated following the incident. The situation caused a temporary disruption in the vicinity, with heightened security measures put in place as authorities assessed the situation.

Reportedly, after the initial crash, the driver struck the barriers near the White House grounds for a second time.

Sinan Ogan’s 5.2 per cent of the vote in the May 14 general election deprived Erdogan of an outright victory for the first time in his 20-year rule.

He met the Turkish leader on Friday and held separate negotiations with allies of opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

“We will support the People’s Alliance candidate, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the second round of the elections on May 28,” he told reporters in nationally televised remarks.

“I invite voters who backed us in the first round to support Mr Erdogan in the second round.”

Ogan portrays himself as an ardent supporter of a brand of Turkish nationalism espoused by the post-Ottoman republic’s creator Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

He has demanded the immediate expulsion of millions of migrants and sought a firm stance on “terrorists” — a euphemism for Kurdish groups fighting for broader autonomy in Turkiye’s southeast.

The 54-year-old also tried to stop the opposition from discussing constitutional changes that could dilute language stressing the importance of Turkishness at the expense of other ethnicities.

‘Terrorism and refugees’

Analysts question how much weight Ogan’s endorsement carries with his voters.

His tiny party has only been around for a few months and most of his support appears to be disaffected with both Turkiye’s Islamic-rooted leader and his 74-year-old secular rival.

But it undermines Kilicdaroglu’s urgent efforts to expand his appeal among more nationalist voters in the runup to the second round.

“Ogan’s newfound reputation as a kingmaker is an exaggeration.. Ogan’s backing for Erdogan is no guarantee that his voters from the first round will follow in lockstep,” Hamish Kinnear of the Verisk Maplecroft consultancy told AFP.

“Assuming Erdogan’s first round voters remain on side, only a small portion of Ogan’s voters need to go with Erdogan to push the president into his third decade in power.”

Kilicdaroglu ran a more inclusive campaign that focused on Turkiye’s raging economic crisis and Erdogan’s crackdown on civil liberties during his second decade of rule.

 

But he struck a decidedly more nationalist tone in his first post-election appearance last week.

The former civil servant pledged to send “all the refugees home” when he comes to power and accused Erdogan of failing to “protect the borders and honour of our country”.

Erdogan had signalled that he did not intend to make any concession to Ogan to secure his support.

Kilicdaroglu sounded defiant in a tweet posted moments after Ogan’s announcement.

 

He accused unnamed forces of “selling out this beautiful country” and signalled his intention to continue pursuing the nationalist vote.

“We are coming to save this country from terrorism and refugees,” Kilicdaroglu wrote. “This is a referendum. No one can fool anyone anymore. “

MUZAFFARABAD / SRINAGAR: In sheer violation of international laws and United Nations Security Council resolutions, a G20 meeting got under way in India-held Kashmir on Monday with at least three member countries boycotting it while several western states preferring to send their India-based diplomats instead of allowing del­egates from their respe­ctive capitals to the event in the disputed region.

G20 member China, which is locked in a military standoff with India along their mostly un-demarcated border in the Ladakh region, refused to attend the tourism working group meeting, and no government delegations are expected from Turkiye or Saudi Arabia.

Beijing also stayed away from earlier G20 mee­tings in Ladakh and in Arunachal Pradesh, which it says are part of Tibet.

Last week, the UN special rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, said New Delhi was seeking to use the G20 meeting to “portray an international seal of approval” on a situation that “should be decried and condemned”.

India rejected the rapporteur’s comments and Pakistan denounced Ind­ian “arrogance” for violating international law by holding the huddle in the disputed territory where, according to the UN resolutions, a plebiscite must be held giving the Kashmiri people the right to self-determination.

In Muzaffarabad, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that holding a G20 meeting in occupied Srinagar was a sheer violation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir.

Addressing a special session of the AJK Legislative Assembly, he said India was deviously trying to convince the world that occupied Jammu and Kashmir was its undisputed part.

“But history remembers that it was India that took the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to the Security Council as a dispute yet to be resolved. There, the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir was internationally recognised, and it was decided that the final disposition of the state shall be made through a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices,” he recalled.

By holding a G20 meeting in the disputed territory under tight security, India wants to show “normalcy and peace” are returning to the region after New Delhi revoked its limited autonomy in 2019 and took direct control, imposing an extended lockdown. Since then Indian authorities have criminalised dissent, curbed media freedoms and limited public protests in a drastic curtailment of civil liberties.

Both China and Pakistan have condemned holding the event in the disputed territory.

Since the lockdown, the decade-old uprising has largely been crushed — although young Kashmiri men continue to take up arms against Indian occupation — and the annual death toll, once in the thousands, has been on a downward trend, with 253 fatalities last year.

Police said last week that security had been beefed up to avoid any chance of attack during the three-day event, and on Monday soldiers and armoured vehicles were deployed at multiple locations in Srinagar, capital of India-held Kashmir.

Hundreds have been detained in police stations and thousands, including shopkeepers, have rece­ived calls from officials warning against any “signs of protest or trouble”, a senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Attempt to hoodwink assailed

Foreign Minister Bhutto-Zardari lambasted India for likening the legitimate struggle for right to self-determination of Kashmiri people with terrorism to hoodwink the international community, but said the diatribe against Kashmiris and Pakistan would never help New Delhi evade the long overdue just solution to the festering issue in accordance with the UNSC resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiris.

“India is trying to use the terrorism bogeyman to mask the indigenous Kashmiri struggle for the legitimate right to self-determination. It uses the same bogey to blame Pakistan and justify its brutal repression of the Kashmiri people, in what is a complete travesty of justice,” he said, in his address to a special session of the AJK Legislative Assembly.

“There is a clear distinction between terrorism and a people’s genuine quest for freedom. Terrorism cannot be and should not be used as an excuse to deny the Kashmiri people their fundamental rights and their fundamental freedoms,” he added.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s address coincided with the G20 meeting in occupied Srinagar.

People in AJK expressed their disapproval of the event by staging rallies and demonstrations and observing symbolic strikes.

The foreign minister emphasised that the Kashmir dispute was the unfinished agenda of the partition of the Sub-continent, when the rights and aspirations of the Kashmiri people were trampled upon by machinations and intrigue.

He regretted that the Kashmiri people had been denied their inalienable right despite the lapse of more than seven decades.

“Today, I ask the world if a country can be allowed to renege on its solemn commitments to the United Nations, break its own promises and blatantly violate international law just because they want to?”

Taking strong exception to India’s August 5, 2019, move, he said it had opened a new chapter of oppression to accomplish Delhi’s nefarious plan to convert Kashmiris into a dispossessed and disempowered minority in their own land.

“Pakistan rejects these unilateral and illegal steps outright. How can the world be a silent bystander when a large country usurps the rights guaranteed by the Security Council, and instead uses brute force to suppress those rights?” he asked. “India is misusing its position as chair of the G20,” he said.

While paying tribute to the valiant Kashmiri people, he reassured them of Pakistan’s unstinted moral, diplomatic and political support till they achieved their legitimate rights.

Men, women attend rallies

Earlier, hundreds of men, women and schoolchildren paraded through the streets in different parts of the liberated territory to condemn the holding of G20 huddle in Srinagar.

A big rally was held in Muzaffarabad under the aegis of an organisation of post-1989 migrants from occupied Kashmir, with its participants carrying black flags and banners inscribed with slogans against the G20 meeting.

One banner was full of praise for China for its categorical boycott of the Srinagar meeting.

Sixty-year-old Malka Jan, who had migrated to AJK in 1992, said she was yearning for a just settlement of Kashmir issue so that she could return to her native area.

“Instead of participating in meetings under the aegis of oppressor India, world powers should take concrete steps to establish peace and justice in our motherland by granting us our right to self-determination,” she said.