Indian Border Security Force soldiers
Indian Border Security Force soldiers patrol a street in Srinagar during curfew Reuters

Pakistan has vowed to provide all the necessary "political and diplomatic support" to residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir until "justice is done". This is despite New Delhi telling Islamabad to stay away from its internal matters.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said that easing the Kashmir situation will remain a key political issue for Islamabad and it will not scale down its efforts on the matter. The ministry's spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said: "We will continue to extend political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris till justice is done... and the brutalities against them come to an end," as Kashmir is a "matter of commitment" for Pakistan.

The troubled border state of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India has been witnessing severe unrest for more than 50 days as a prominent separatist Burhan Wani, billed an extremist by India was killed by Indian security forces in July. New Delhi has blamed Pakistan for constantly fanning flames of unrest in the Kashmir valley as the situation remained volatile in the region.

"The prime minister [Nawaz Sharif] has called upon the UN secretary general to send a fact-finding mission to Kashmir, stressing that Azad Kashmir could not be compared with India-occupied Kashmir," Zakaria said. India rejected Pakistan's offer to hold bilateral talks on the present circumstances in Kashmir saying only counter-terrorism efforts can be discussed not domestic affairs.

Responding to Sharif's exchange of letters with the UN chief, India's Foreign Ministry Vikas Swarup said: "They [Pakistan] can write as many letters as they want [to UN], it won't change the fact that J&K is an integral part of India. Also, the ground reality is that part of Jammu and Kashmir is under illegal occupation of Pakistan."

The violence in Kashmir – one of the bloodiest in recent years – has claimed as many as 70 lives and left more than 9,000 others injured. Fighting broke out in few parts of the valley as soon as the federal government-imposed curfew was lifted forcing the Modi administration to partially bring back the clampdown.