People not unhappy in Pakistan: Sharad Pawar

ISLAMABAD: Former Defence Minister of India and Indian National Congress party President, Sharad Pawar, has said that people are not unhappy in Pakistan as against a common belief in India and that he received a very warm welcome on his visit to the neighbouring country.

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According to Indian media report from Mumbai, he said that negative perception about Pakistan was a result of propaganda spread in India for political gains. “People here say Pakistanis are facing injustice and are unhappy but it is not true. Such statements are being made only for political gains without understanding the actual situation in Pakistan,” said the NCP chief who is widely respected in his country like statesman.

Sharad Pawar, who had served as chief minister of Maharashtra state as well, said that he had visited Pakistan on several occasions where he warmly received as “Pakistanis believe that even if they can't go to India to meet their relatives, they treat an Indian as their relatives.”

Tension between India and Pakistan spiked this year after the Pulwama attack in February in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers were killed. The annexation of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and its splitting followed by unprecedented repression against the people of IOK added to the strain between two neighbouring countries as Pakistan has raised the issue at several international forums.