Continuing with his Kashmir offensive, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday appointed 22 Parliamentarians as special envoys to highlight “Indian brutalities and human rights abuses in Kashmir in various parts of the world”. India promptly slammed the move asking Pakistan to desist from internationalising the issue.
“As far as the Kashmir issue is concerned, Pakistan must not internationalise it. It is a bilateral issue,” Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar told ANI. He also took a dig at Pakistan saying, “It is Pakistan’s individual right if it wants its MPs to go for free tourism.”
In Delhi, though, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit extended an olive branch saying that even though India had rejected their offer for talks on Kashmir, he hoped that a dialogue between the two nations will happen soon.
However, Union Minister for State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh ruled out any talks with Pakistan saying the Government cannot talk to perpetrators of terrorism even as he asserted that the Modi Government will also engage with the people in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).
Meanwhile, a group of Baloch people protested against Pakistani atrocities in Balochistan and waved Indian flags in leipzig in Germany. “Tum kitne (Akbar) Bugti maaroge, har ghar se Bugti nikalega,” slogans were raised along with pro-Modi slogans at the protest.
Sharif’s move to send his Parliamentarians pleading Kashmir’s case comes shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Indian diplomats to get in touch with expats from POK living in various parts of the world, gather information from them on the pitiable condition in the region and let the global community know about it.
Among those nominated to lobby for Pakistan and spread its version of the Kashmir story are Ijazul Haq and Malik Uzair for Belgium, Khusro Bakhtiar and Alamdad laleka for China, Raza Hayat Hiraj, Junaid Anwar Chaudhry and Nawab Ali Wassan for the Russian Federation, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Major (Retd) Tahir Iqbal and Muhammad Afzal Khokhar for Saudi Arabia, Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha and Malik Pervaiz for Turkey, lieutenant-General (Retd) Abdul Qayyum and Qaiser Sheikh for the United Kingdom.
Apart from these, Mushahid Hussain Syed and Shazra Mansab Ali Khan would highlight the Kashmir cause in the US and the United Nations, Ayesha Raza Farooq and Rana Muhammad Afzal in France, Awais leghari in the United Nations (Geneva) and Abdul Rehman Kanju in South Africa.
“I have decided to send these Parliamentarians to fight for Kashmir’s cause in different parts of the world. These special envoys have the strength of the people of Pakistan, prayers of the Kashmiri people across the line of Control, mandate of the Parliament and support from the Government,” Sharif said.
“I am standing behind these special envoys to ensure their toil for highlighting the Kashmir cause resonates across the world so that I can shake the collective conscience of the international community during my address at the UN this September,” he added. The UN has asked both countries to sort out their disputes through bilateral talks.
However, with Pakistan pushing terrorists into India and inciting violence in Kashmir Valley, New Delhi first wants to discuss this before moving on to other issues. MoS Jitendra Singh said that Pakistan’s role in J&K violence stands exposed today. “I think we are very clear that it is mischief perpetuated, promoted and sponsored by Pakistan and India is out to defeat this design. If Pakistan continues to remain in denial mode, the harm would come to Pakistan itself because the perpetrators of terrorism cannot escape the effects of terrorism for long,” he added.