In an interview, former Pakistani high commissioner to India talks about the differences he witnessed between current government PTI and former government PML-N when it comes to tackling the Kashmir issue. He also talks about his experience during the time he served as high commissioner to India under PML-N government.
"جب میں بھارت میں پاکستانی ہائی کمشنر تھا تو نوازشریف صاحب کو ہمیشہ بھارت سے اپنےذاتی کاروباری مفادات کیلئے تعلقات بناتے اور بڑھاتےدیکھا 😏
مسئلہ کشمیر پر بہت محنت کی ضرورت ہے"
سابق پاکستانی ہائی کمشنر براۓ بھارت، عبدالباسط
#PowerShowWithMaleehaHashmey
pic.twitter.com/hhiFpAlxJj— Maleeha Hashmey (@MaleehaHashmey) July 18, 2021
The interviewer said:”Imran khan has been accused of selling out Kashmir by the opposition and as you served as Pakistani high commissioner to India during the time of PML-N government what differences do you see in the current government and former government when it comes handling the Kashmir issue”.
To this, the former high commissioner replied. He said:” Yes I was serving as high commissioner to India during the time of Nawaz’s government and his basic approach was very different as compared to the current government He preferred to keep a low profile when it came to the Kashmir issue and focused more on trade and cultural relations with India.
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Further talking on this issue, he said: “When I was Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India, I always saw Nawaz Sharif building and expanding relations with India for his personal business interests”.
The former commissioner was asked about what future he sees for the people of Kashmir. He said that Kashmir issue definitely needs lots of work and their people deserve to live in a peaceful environment.
Upcoming AJK elections: a battle for votes begins
Ahead of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections, political parties are in full swing by conducting rallies and addressing the public about their future plans in the region. As many as 32 political and religious parties are vying in the polls prominent among them PML-N, PPP and PTI for the 45 direct seats of the assembly, 33 of which are located in AJK territory.
Maryam claimed that the PML-N had already won the election and the people of AJK had made the decision in the party’s favor. “I promise you that there will be a new dawn of development in AJK on July 26.”
Read more: AJK elections 2021: A test for the PTI government?
She further said that the premier’s announcement to hold a two-minute silence after India repealed Article 370 of its constitution on August 5, 2019, was his government’s “criminal silence” and demanded his resignation.
Praising her father Nawaz Sharif, Maryam said that the thrice-elected prime minister was the “only one” who was capable of solving the Kashmir dispute. She recalled that it was during Nawaz’s rule that former Indian premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to Lahore and “acknowledged that Kashmir is a dispute which needs to be solved”.
Bilawal’s views on Kashmir
While addressing the gathering in AJK, PPP chairperson Bilawal said “This kind of incompetent prime minister not only threatens the freedom of every Pakistani but also that of every Kashmiri. We know that if Modi’s fascism has to be answered, Modi’s undemocratic behavior has to be answered, then we can’t answer them with fascism, we can’t answer them through a puppet or a selected.”
Read more: Modi’s Kashmir gamble and Pakistan’s policy options
Bilawal slammed the prime minister by saying, “the Imran Khan who calls Modi a fascist today is the same Imran Khan who prayed for Modi’s victory in elections”.