Pakistan’s prime minister talks Kashmir, floods at UN

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif appealed for a peaceful end to the dispute over Kashmir and deplored regional instability, invoking the perennial themes of Pakistan’s U.N. addresses after dedicating the first half of his speech Friday to the ravages of recent floods.
The flood-induced devastation, which Sharif described in biblical terms, means it’s incumbent on Pakistan to “ensure rapid economic growth and lift millions out of poverty and hunger,” he said.
But in order to do so, Sharif said, Pakistan needs a “stable external environment” — that means peace in South Asia, which he said hinges on a resolution of the decadeslong dispute over Jammu and Kashmir.
“At the heart of this longstanding dispute lies the denial of the inalienable right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination,” Sharif said, outlining what he called India’s “relentless campaign of repression” and “serial brutalization” of Kashmiris.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and has been claimed by both since they won independence from the British empire 75 years ago