Srinagar

Pakistan has asked the United States and the world to focus on “human right violations in Kashmir” instead of finding faults with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which would benefit the “region and beyond”.

Reacting to the US Defence Secretary, James Mattis’, statement on the multi-billion-dollar the CPEC, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that the CPEC was a “development and connectivity project for the betterment of the people in the region and beyond,” The Nation, reported.

“Mattis supported India’s claim and said his country believed the CPEC passed through disputed territory,” the report added.

He was referring to the $56 billion CPEC passing through the northern areas, which India argues are part of the disputed Kashmir region.

Earlier US defence secretary told the Senate Armed Services Committee: “The One Belt, One Road also goes through the disputed territory, and I think that in itself shows the vulnerability of trying to establish that sort of a dictate.”

The report added: Furious over Mattis’ assertion on the CPEC, Nafees Zakaria said the international community should focus on human rights violations and heinous crimes committed by Indian occupation forces in held Kashmir.

“As for the Kashmir dispute, efforts need to be made to implement the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir, that call for a UN-supervised plebiscite to enable Kashmiris to exercise their right to self determination,” he said in a statement.

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