Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif on Monday expressed disappointment over the way Pakistan’s concerns over the humanitarian situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) were addressed by the world and said that the issue should be pursued with utmost sincerity and seriousness instead of politics.
Speaking on the floor of the lower house, the former foreign minister said that it was a massive failure for the nuclear-armed country that no other country other than Turkey, Malaysia and China voiced their support for Pakistan.
“Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan and the government should take concrete steps to help the Kashmiris,” he said, adding that Indian forces have turned the valley into the world’s largest prison.
“Kashmir is a humanitarian issue as mobile and internet services are still not available to Kashmiris. Kashmiris are chanting slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ because they want freedom from India,” he added.
Taking the prime minister to task, he said that he had said on record that Kashmir issue would be resolved after Narendra Modi’s re-election but now minorities in India are also worried because of his fascist policies.
“The government wasted a golden opportunity of exposing India’s true face to the world after the Indian parliament passed the controversial citizen bill,” he said.
The former foreign minister called the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) a “dead horse” for not holding a summit on the Kashmir issue.
He further said that former premier Nawaz Sharif sent delegations to 30 countries to raise the Kashmir issue. He added that Nawaz also paid tribute to Burhan Wani at the United Nations (UN) but on the other hand, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi raises Kashmir issue more in Multan as compared to international forums.
