Kashmir: Pak ICJ lawyer says difficult to prove genocide

Islamabad: Pakistan's lawyer at the ICJ has said that the "high evidential threshhold" to prove genocide at the hands of a state is difficult to establish, amid efforts by Imran Khan government to take the Kashmir issue to the UN court.

Khawar Qureshi, who represented Pakistan at the ICJ during the high-profile case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, told a Pakistani channel that proving genocide is quite difficult.

"The most fundamental argument is the high evidential threshhold that you have to establish to prove genocide. And that is extremely difficult to prove genocide at the hands of the state," Qureshi said in response to a question.

Pakistan has threatened to approach the International Court of Justice over the Kashmir issue. Prime Minister Imran Khan has reached out to several countries in the world, including the United States, on the matter.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated after New Delhi on August 5 revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two union territories. Reacting to India's move on Kashmir, Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.

Asserting that abrogation of Article 370 was its internal matter, India has strongly criticised Pakistan for making "irresponsible statements" and provocative anti-India rhetoric over issues internal to it.