ISLAMABAD: Terming New Delhi’s government a "dictatorial regime", Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi slammed India for refusing permission to foreign journalists to visit Azad Jammu and Kashmir to cover the assembly session.
Taking to Twitter, FM Qureshi said, ”The denial of permission by India to 5 international journalists to travel to Pakistan, in which a visit to the Azad Kashmir Assembly was scheduled, is another damning indication of shrinking space for free speech and independent journalism under a dictatorial regime.”
Meanwhile, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also criticized India over the denial of permission to foreign media persons to visit Azad Kashmir.
He maintained that the journalists were supposed to attend Azad Kashmir Assembly session on August 5. The minister urged India to allow journalists to visit Indian occupied Kashmir and report on the disputed territory.
"India has refused to allow five foreign journalists permission to visit Pak, they were supposed to attend 5th August session of Azad Kashmir Assembly, so much of #FreedomofExpression we want India to allow independent Journalists to visit IOK and let them report facts," he tweeted.
“The difference is simple. We want the world to see what is happening in Azad Kashmir and they want to hide what is happening in indian occupied Kashmir,” said Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar.
“The difference between right and wrong cannot get more stark than this,” he added.