Pakistan says the people of Jammu and Kashmir must be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under United Nations auspices, as envisaged in the relevant Security Council resolutions.

Speaking at the United Nations during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Counsellor Saima Saleem said the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains an internationally recognized dispute on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.

She emphasized that its final disposition must be determined in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions guaranteeing the Kashmiri people's inalienable right to self-determination.

She welcomed the Special Rapporteur's recognition of the distinction between minority rights and the right of peoples to self-determination, highlighting the relevance of this distinction to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Counsellor Saima Saleem reaffirmed Pakistan's unwavering commitment to the protection of minority rights and stressed that the principles of equality, non-discrimination and respect for fundamental rights must be upheld universally, consistently and without selectivity.

She said that a just and lasting resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute must be grounded in international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions, enabling the people of Jammu and Kashmir to freely determine their own future.

The Pakistani delegate said that the rise of Islamophobia, religious profiling, restrictions on religious freedoms and incitement to hatred demand greater international attention and concerted action.