ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that in the interest of durable peace in South Asia, the international community should urge India to allow the Kashmiri people to freely determine their own future, as a lasting peace could not be achieved by suppressing the genuine aspirations of the local people.

The recent developments in the Middle East amply showed that long-standing disputes should not be allowed to fester, the prime minister said in a message on Kashmir Solidarity Day being observed today (Feb 5), APP reported. He said the government and people of Pakistan annually observed the Kashmir Solidarity Day to renew their steadfast support to the Kashmiri people`s just and legitimate struggle for the realisation of their right to self-determination.

`The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law. Every year, the UN General Assembly adopts a resolution that stresses the legal right of people to decide their own destiny,` the premier said, according to a statement from his office.

Regrettably, despite 78 years having passed, the Kashmiri people have yet to exercise this inalienable right, he lamented. He said the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) remains one of the most militarised zones in the world, and Kashmiris are living in an environment of fear and intimidation.

Meanwhile, during a daylong visit to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) capital on Wednesday(today),PMShehbazwillreaffirmPakistan`s unwavering commitment and support for the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The prime minister`s main engagement in Muzaffarabad will be an address to the AJK Legislative Assembly, Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar confirmed to Dawn. He added that before the prime minister`s address, the AJK premier and parliamentary leaders of various political parties would also speak.

According to official sources, upon arrival in Muzaffarabad, the prime minister will first visit the grand Monument to Martyrs at Chattar Chowk, where he will lay a floral wreath in trib-ute to those who sacrificed their lives in the struggle against India. Sources said that Chief of the Army Staff Gen Asim Munir would also join the prime minister in laying the wreath and offering Fateha for the fallen heroes of Kashmir.

Torch rally in Muzaffarabad A torch rally and a candlelight vigil were separately held in Muzaffarabad on Tuesday evening to pay tribute to the Kashmiris resisting Indian oppression across the divide, on the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day.

The rally was organised at Burhan Wani Chowk, a symbolic venue for pro-Kashmir events, shortly after sunset under the aegis of Pasban-i-Hurriyat Jammu Kashmir (PHJK), an organisation of post-1989 migrants from Indianoccupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Holding flaming torches aloft, participants marched through the city`s main thoroughfare from Burhan Wani Chowk to Garhi Pan Chowk, seeking to draw the international community`s attention to the worsening situation in occupied Kashmir. Among the participants, several carried the flags of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Pakistan, while others held a banner that read: `All Eyes on Jammu & Kashmir.

Addressing the rally, PHJK chief Uzair Ahmad Ghazali said the Kashmir issue remained a source of continuous tension between India and Pakistan, adding that millions around the world were demanding its just resolution.

GB Assembly passes resolution The Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning India`s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, reaffirming unwavering support for the Kashmiri people`s right to self-determination. The resolution was moved by ministers and members from both the government and the opposition and was read out by Minister Ghulam Muhammad. It declared India`s aggression and occupation of Kashmir on Oct 27, 1947, as a `black day` in history and stated that Kashmiris hadneveracceptedIndianrule.

Tariq Naqash in Muzaffarabad and Jamil Nagri in Gilgit also contributed to this report