Imran calls Trump to discuss Kashmir issue

ISLAMABAD: Pak PM Imran Khan held a telephonic conversation on Friday with US President Donald Trump on the Kashmir issue ahead of a closed-door UN Security Council meeting to discuss India’s move revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

“The prime minister presented Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir to President Trump and took him into confidence. The PM conveyed Pakistan’s reservations on the danger to peace in the region,” foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a video statement aired on TV stations moments before the commencement of the UNSC meeting.

Qureshi said Khan has reached out to four out of five heads of permanent member states of the UNSC over the Kashmir issue. “Pakistan had presented its stance to the prime minister of Britain, President Trump, foreign minister of

Russia

. We have had

direct contact

with four of the five permanent UNSC members. They are aware of Pakistan’s stance. We are also trying to contact the French president so that his country understands our position,” Qureshi said.

Qureshi said the conversation between the two leaders was held in a cordial environment. “They also agreed to remain in contact over the Kashmir issue,” he said.

The two leaders, according to Qureshi, also discussed the situation in

Afghanistan

.

“Pakistan, like always, is committed to the peace process. The role we have played is for the betterment of the region and the steps we have taken are for the mutual benefit of Pakistan and Afghanistan and for peace and stability. We will continue to take such steps,” he said.

The UNSC, for the first time in 50 years, held a closed-door meeting on Kashmir on Friday to discuss India’s revocation of J&K’s special status. The meeting was convened at the request of Pakistan and China to debate India’s act of nullifying Article 370 of its Constitution and bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.