PM to name more MPs to highlight Kashmir cause

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has decided to expand the list of the countries for dispatching his special envoys to highlight Kashmir issue and Indian brutalities in Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK). 

The members of Parliament belonging to other parliamentary groups would be included in the next phase and it is likely the new list would be made public within this week.  Pakistan's diplomatic missions in the countries where the special envoys will be visiting are being asked to coordinate the movement and activities of the envoys. Highly-placed sources told ‘The News’ here Sunday that the prime minister has asked the officials concerned to make the initiative apolitical since the cause of Kashmir doesn't belong to any particular party.

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq who is already on board in this regard had established contact with various groups for bringing their nominees for the designation as special envoy of the prime minister on Kashmir. 

The plan has been widely hailed across the country while India has harshly resented it as its media kept on lashing it for the second day on Sunday while some hardliner Indian leaders have also taken on Nawaz Sharif on his move.

The PM House sources have discarded Indian criticism by saying that Pakistan is wholeheartedly committed to the cause of the people of Kashmir. The sources said that Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has forwarded more names of the parliamentarians from all parties to be included in the envoys' list nominated for highlighting the atrocities against the people of Kashmir as they will be entrusted to visit some important countries to have interaction with the people and provide guidance to the public opinion regarding the Kashmir dispute that has made peace of the region hostage since decades. 

The spokesperson of the Prime Minister Office (PMO) has said that the office of the National Assembly Speaker was previously requested to nominate prominent members for highlighting the Kashmir cause worldwide. The first installment of so designated members of Parliament have been assigned the capitals on Saturday while some key countries are still to be catered by the special envoys and they would be assigned to new nominated members. The list from the NA Speaker Secretariat is awaited, the sources added. 

The spokesman has clarified that the list issued to media is not exhaustive and the Speaker's Office was supposed to be sending more names of the parliamentarians who would be subsequently added to the list. The spokesman said that since, the right of self determination for the people of the IOK is a national cause, therefore, full representation from all parties in the envoys list is extremely essential. 

The sources clarified that nominations of members from the Senate are also waited which are expected to be received in a couple of days. Once the nominations from both the Houses of Parliament is completed, the designated envoys would be given a detailed briefing at the Foreign Office in view of better advocacy of the Kashmir cause.  Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry would be coordinating the programmes of the special envoys, the sources added.