PM wins UN support for Kashmir cause, says Pervaiz Rashid

Rashid welcomes UN secretary general' Ban Ki-moon’s offer to mediate the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Minister and Senator Pervaiz Rashid claimed on Friday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has won UN support for the cause of Kashmir. In view of this development, he said, the opposition should now stop its baseless propaganda and criticism of the government’s foreign policy.

Rashid welcomed UN secretary general' Ban Ki-moon’s offer to mediate the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. He labelled it as a historic victory of the incumbent government's foreign policy and the diplomatic offensive launched to rally the support of the international community in highlighting the crunch question of Kashmir.

The minister said that it was also a testament to the initiatives and policies of the PML-N-led government in the sphere of foreign policy that the international community and public opinion now recognises Pakistan's position on Kashmir.

This, he said, should put to rest all those who oppose and criticise the government simply for the sake of criticism to mislead and hoodwink the people. He said Imran Khan and PPP as part of their campaign to malign PM Nawaz Sharif had politicised the Kashmir issue and demoralized the people of Jammu and Kashmir for their right to self-determination.  He said that the opposition should now accept that the foreign policy of PML (N) Government.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2016.