The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party founder, Prof Bhim Singh, on Friday accused India of having "missed a great chance’’ to ask Pakistan to vacate the areas in Kashmir under its illegal occupation including Gigit-Baltistan. Reacting to the address of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the United National General Assembly in response to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief’s four point formula for peace with India, Singh said that the Narendra Modi government failed to tell the international community about illegal aggression by Pakistan and its continued occupation of 32,000 sq miles of Indian territory since August 13, 1947 inspite of 1948 UN resolution. It also failed to apprise the world of the illegal occupation of the 20,000 sq miles of its territory by China since 1962, he said, adding that the Sushma Swaraj’s address at the UNGA was a unique occasion for India to file its effective response to the four point formula of Nawaz Sharief. Pointing out that he has been suggesting Government of India to ask Pakistan withdraw its army from all occupied areas of PoK including Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral as per directions of the UN resolution, he asked the Central government to demand Pakistan withdraw of all its civilian settlers from territories of Kashmir under its illegal occupation. It shall also urge UN to declare Pakistan’s 2009 ordinance making Gilgit-Baltistan as its 6th province as violative of former’s resolution, besides handing over of entire law and order machinery in PoK to the Indian army for maintaining law and order as had been directed by the UN resolution, he added. [related-post] The National Panthers Party leader also suggested the Government of India to seek UN intervention for return of entire Karakuram highway spread over 5,000 sq miles to PoK from China as the same was illegally leased out to it by Pakistan in 1963 in violation of UN charter. He said that V K Krishna Menon had in 1957 raised these issues asking Pakistan to implement them so that the next peace initiative could be taken up with Pakistan. Describing Sushma Swaraj’s address at UNGA as Modi government’s utter failure to represent India’s case in the UN, Singh said that it "may be under pressure from big powers who never wanted peace between India and Pakistan’’.
