Pak Raises Pitch, Terms Kashmir ‘Integral Part’

SRINAGAR: Needling India yet again by praising the slain Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander, Burhan Wani as ‘vibrant and charismatic leader’, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, Thursday claimed that Kashmir was an ‘integral part’ of Pakistan.

Nawaz was addressing the inaugural ceremony of a two-day international parliamentary seminar on Kashmir in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, in which the Hurriyat Conference chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq addressed via text. The seminar was organised by Young Parliamentarians Forum, National Assembly of Pakistan in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Praising the ‘spirit and determination’ of the Kashmiri people for their ‘struggle for the right to self-determination, Sharif said “the hearts of the entire Pakistani nation beat and sink with ‘our’ Kashmiri brethren.”

He said the world needs to tell India that “enough is enough” with regard to its policy towards Kashmir, he said, while asserting that Kashmir is an “integral part” of Pakistan. He claimed the “martyrdom of vibrant and charismatic Kashmiri leader Burhan Wani has given a new turn to the Kashmiri movement.”

The Pakistan premier regretted the “Indian aggression” against Kashmiri people in the wake of protests triggered by the killing of Burhan Wani by security forces on July 8.

Sharif said supporting the Kashmiri struggle for their right to self-determination was the faith of every Pakistani. He said Pakistan would continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their indigenous struggle and continue to shake the conscience of the international community for their rights.

He said Pakistan had sent special envoys to important countries to sensitise them about the situation in Kashmir. He said that he personally raised the dispute in his address to the United Nations General Assembly session.

Referring to the four points he presented before the U.N., Sharif once again urged the world community to make all-out efforts for the realisation of the promise it made to the Kashmiri people seventy years ago. He said the U.N. Security Council resolutions should be implemented and the continued sufferings of Kashmiri people must come to an end now.

Sharif, while addressing a joint session of Parliament in October last year had praised Wani, drawing a strong reaction from India which said ‘this showed Pakistan’s attachment to terrorism.’

He had also praised the militant during his address to the U.N. General Assembly on September 21, describing him as a “young leader“.

India had strongly criticised Mr. Sharif’s speech at the U.N., describing it as an act of “self-incrimination” by Pakistan.

Speaking at Thursday’s seminar, Sharif’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that Kashmir issue “is a stigma on the international process.” He said both Kashmir and Palestine were the two longest unresolved items on the UNSC agenda.

He pointed out that a relentless struggle was continuing despite the hardest measures adopted by India.

Aziz said “the presence of a large number of Indian troops in the Valley is a clear manifestation of Indian policy to use state terrorism to suppress the just struggle of Kashmiri people.” He also called upon India to desist from steps that alter the demography of Kashmir.

He has said Pakistan will continue to extend steadfast support to Kashmiri people in their just struggle to right to self-determination.

“Solution of the problem lies only in a fair and transparent plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations,” Mr. Aziz said.

Addressing the seminar organised by National Assembly Secretariat and Young Parliamentarians Forum, Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said the lingering Kashmir dispute must be solved at the earliest to avert further instability in the whole region.

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