Pakistan’s missions in Europe have stepped up the campaign on Kashmir, including an informal outreach to Swedish politicians to intercede with Turkey on Sweden’s NATO membership bid in return for raking up the Kashmir issue.
The campaign intensified around August 5, which Pakistan has observed as “Youm-e-Istehsal” or the “day of exploitation” since the Indian government withdrew Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on that day in 2019.
As part of the campaign, the Pakistani side approached Sweden’s politicians informally to interfere with Turkey on Sweden’s NATO membership for assistance and efforts to internationalize the Kashmir issue.
Aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Sweden, and Finland took advantage to attach NATO however encountered opposition from Turkey, a member of the military alliance, who claims that Scandinavian nations support “terrorist” Kurdish groups.
After the two nations declared they would address pending petitions for the extradition or deportation of terror suspects, Turkey withdrew its objections.
Last month, Turkey warned that it will freeze the membership bids of Sweden and Finland if the Nordic nations fail to deliver on promises on counter-terrorism.
The people said, as most of the activities linked to Youm-e-Istehsal in European capitals were purportedly regulated by Kashmiri alliances and organizations and there is a strong indication of support for events from Locals of Pakistan.
An official at the Pakistani embassy in Stockholm sent a letter to the Foreign Office in Islamabad on July 20 and pointed out several activities organized in relation to Youm-e-Istehsal. It includes an event featuring speakers from Sweden Parliament and regular contacts with Swedish MPs “to start discussions in the Swedish Parliament” on two motions that have previously been submitted about the Kashmir issue.
The people tipped to the role of an Islamabad-based organization, Kashmir Institute for International Relations (KIIR) that often transmit wrong information about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, in circulating the Pakistan government’s propaganda on Kashmir.
