Daily Times

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday categorically stated that Pakistan will never backtrack from its principled position on Kashmir dispute under any pressure.

Winding up a debate in Senate on the situation in Indian-held Kashmir, the foreign minister said that Pakistan will never surrender before India. He said the people of Kashmir were not and are not alone as the entire Pakistani nation stands by them. He said the Indian unilateral actions are not only an attack on the occupied valley but they also have eyes on Pakistan. He said the world must understand that the secular India of Nehru stands buried and today the ideology of RSS is reigning supreme.

The foreign minister said that Kashmir dispute stands internationalised in the wake of blunder committed by Modi in the valley. He said the UN Security Council meeting on Kashmir after a gap of 54 years is a major diplomatic victory for Pakistan. He said the UNSC meeting has negated the Indian impression that Kashmir is an internal matter of India.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq said all the political parties should be on the same page and collectively raise voice against the illegal steps taken by the Indian government in the occupied valley. He said Pakistan should forcefully raise the voice of oppressed Kashmiri people at the international level. He appreciated the stance of China, Iran and Turkey in support of Kashmiri people.

Sherry Rehman of the PPP said there is an unprecedented resentment in entire Pakistani nation against the illegal Indian steps in Kashmir and the imposition of indefinite curfew there. She said India cannot suppress the voice of Kashmiri people. She said occupied Kashmir has been turned into the world’s biggest open-air jail by the Indian authorities. “We have to remind the world community of Kashmir being the nuclear flashpoint,” she added.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq said the worst kind of atrocities is being committed in Kashmir by the occupying forces. He said the entire Pakistani nation salutes the sacrifices of Kashmiri people which they have been rendering for accession to Pakistan. He said the situation warrants that Pakistan extends practical support to Kashmiri people. He said the massacre of Kashmiri people should be considered an attack on Pakistan. He suggested that Azad Kashmir government be declared as the spokesperson of the people of occupied valley and the AJK prime minister should be fully facilitated for the purpose.

The House unanimously passed a resolution expressing the resolve to establish an international parliamentarians congress to promote cooperation amongst the parliaments across the world. The resolution, moved by Leader of House Shibli Faraz, authorised the Senate chairman to take all necessary measures to make the proposed international parliamentarians congress a unique platform to bring together elected representatives from across the world acting as global parliamentarians for the whole humanity.

Earlier, both the opposition and ruling senators made hue and cry and rejected the PMDC bill and also its ordinance. The government side claimed that several opposition members own medical collages and they never want to pass the bill. However, the opposition claimed that the government wants to get control of all the hospitals, doctors and other assets.

The House will now meet today (Friday) at 10 am.