Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday expressed disappointment with the international community for failing to pressure India in the Jammu and Kashmir matter, Hindustan Times reported. Khan blamed it on India’s appeal as a “market of one billion people”.

“To be absolutely frank, I am a bit disappointed by the international community,” Khan told reporters at a press conference at the United Nations. He claimed that the world would have reacted with more urgency had eight million Europeans, Jewish people, or Americans been under siege. “There is no pressure on Narendra Modi to lift the siege,” he said.

“We can’t attack India,” Mint quoted the Pakistan prime minister as saying. “Clearly that is not an option. Apart from that, we are doing everything possible.”

However, Khan also cautioned that the two nuclear-armed nations would have to “come face to face at some stage”, according to AP.

On Monday, Khan had met United States President Donald Trump and told him that Kashmir was facing a “huge humanitarian crisis” and “eight million people were under siege by 9 lakh troops for 50 days”.

India imposed a communications blackout, detained Kashmiri political leaders and put restrictions on public movement on August 5 before revoking Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status. It also split it into two Union Territories. Though India has claimed that the situation is getting back to normal and communication restrictions are being lifted gradually, activists and journalists claim the curbs are still in place in most places in the state.

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Pakistan had downgraded diplomatic ties with India and suspended trade following India’s moves in the region. It also raised the matter at international forums such as the United Nations Human Rights Council but failed to get much traction as most world powers called for dialogue to end the Kashmir dispute but did not exert pressure on New Delhi. India has repeatedly said Kashmir was its internal matter.

In an op-ed article in The New York Times last month, Khan warned of an imminent military escalation between the two nuclear powers if the world did not intervene. He reiterated the warning in an interview to Al Jazeera on September 14. The prime minister is expected to raise the matter when he addresses the UN General Assembly on September 27.

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