Nation won’t accept any bargain on Kashmir: PML-N

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), while criticising the prime minister for attempting to resume trade relations with India, on Saturday asked the incumbent government to clarify its Kashmir policy to Pakistani and Kashmiris.

"Prime Minister should tell the nation whether his government has accepted annexation of Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) with Indian while compromising on settlement of core dispute as per United Nations resolutions," the former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, while addressing a press along with Dr Musadiq Malik here, said.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said he wanted to warn the PTI government that the nation would not compromise on reversal of India's action taken with invoking Article 370A of the constitution and solution of Kashmir issue according to UN Security Council's resolutions. "The Pakistani nation will not accept any bargain on Kashmir issue for the sake of benefit of Rs2 per kilogramme of sugar," the PML-N leader said.

Abbasi claimed that the federal cabinet did not show any sincerity with the Kashmir cause rather the ministers rejected prime minister's summary as approved by ECC only to save their political future. He said that some ministers told the prime minister that people were very angry that would destroy their political future.

Former prime minister said that the PTI government wanted to resume trade relations with India while taking refuge behind ceasefire understanding reached between DGs Military Operations of two countries in the last week of February. He pointed out that the prime minister as in-charge of the Ministry of Commerce, on March 26 moved a summary to ECC seeking approval for import of three lacs tonnes of sugar and unlimited quantity of cotton from India till June 30. "It was totally India specific summary," he said.

He said that the finance minister who was chairing the ECC meeting told participants that the prime minister approved the summary and he was also aware of foreign policy on Kashmir and political matters. Abbasi said through the summary, the prime minister wanted exemption of import of sugar and cotton from ban on trade with India. "Not only that the ECC okayed summary but also allowed five Lac tonnes of sugar from India," he said.

He pointed out that Imran Khan also wrote a letter to his Indian counterpart in which he called for solution of Kashmir issue. "But there was no demand for reversal of India's action of reversal of annexation of Indian occupied Kashmir and need for solution of Kashmir issue as per UN Security Council's resolutions, " the PML-N leader regretted.

Following rejection of summary by the federal cabinet, the army special assistants and advisors and spokesmen staged a circus of clarifications with some of them saying the summary was approved by the prime minister while other denying the same. But it was finance minister who stated that summary was moved to the ECC after it was approved by the prime minister, he said.

Asked whether he would like to appreciate ministers who opposed the summary, Shahid Khaqan said they should have resigned had they any self-respect and shame.