AJK PM wants UN to move beyond resolutions on Kashmir issue

KARACHI: Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan said on Tuesday that Kashmir is and will remain the jugular vein of Pakistan, and the United Nations should not limit itself to resolutions on the Kashmir issue.

Addressing the journalists at a meet-the-press in the Karachi Press Club, he said the OIC and other Muslim countries should come forward openly in support of Kashmir’s freedom movement.

The United Nations only presents resolutions on the issue of Kashmir, while the OIC and other Muslim countries need to raise their voice on the issue, he added. The AJK premier said there are many opportunities and land for industry and business in Azad Kashmir, where whoever comes and invests will be helped in every sector, and tax exemption will be offered. He announced a Rs1.2 million financial grant for the KPC.

Sardar Ilyas and his cabinet members are on a three-day visit to Karachi. On arrival, he visited the Mazar-e-Quaid and the Sindh Assembly, and held meetings with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Sindh leaders.

On his arrival at Sindh opposition leader Haleem Adil Sheikh’s home, the AJK PM said that after being elected as PM of AJK, he could not come to the Mazar-e-Quaid, but earlier when he was a member of the Punjab cabinet he had come to the Mazar-e-Quaid. Commenting on the current political situation, he said the country’s financial condition was bad as the defence minister himself said the country had gone bankrupt.

“The dollar is not ours. We have to get out of the dollar game. Afghanistan’s currency used to lie on the ground. However, at this time, the currencies of Afghanistan and Bangladesh have stabilised.” Sardar Ilyas said elections should have been held on time, as the prevailing unnecessary political chaos had made mockery of the country and it should be avoided.

After the visit to the Quaid’s Mazar, the AJK PM along with his ministers and officials reached the Sindh Assembly where he met Haleem Adil Sheikh and other PTI MPAs. Addressing a press conference, Sheikh said Pakistan’s resolution was approved by the Sindh Assembly.

He said the PTI was committed to raising the voice of the people of Kashmir. Sardar Ilyas said the purpose of his visit to Karachi was to do a lot of things.

“Sindh is the land of Sufis. We have to meet everyone to move the country forward. We want to strengthen relations with Sindh.” In a meeting with the CM, the AJK PM said the Sindh House should also be established in Azad Kashmir, for which the AJK government would give a beautiful place.

He said Punjab and Sindh should support small provinces, and the people of Kashmir looked towards Pakistan for their freedom.He said India has no respect for the people of Kashmir, the media should convey the pain of Kashmiris to the world, and thousands of Kashmiris have been killed just because they wanted their fundamental rights.

Kashmiris have been sacrificing their lives for seventy-five years and now they cannot change their stance, he remarked. He said the decisions of the world are connected with Pakistan and the world knows our position. Kashmiris should be allowed to decide how they want to live, he demanded.

Later, PTI Karachi President Aftab Siddiqui met the AJK PM. Talking to the media at the Sindh Assembly; Siddiqui said Imran Khan highlighted the Kashmir issue at every international forum as a real ambassador of Kashmir, and the Pakistani nation would continue its support for the freedom of Kashmir.