NA condemns Indian firing on AJK premier’s copter

Says Indians continue to violate ceasefire agreement besides committing atrocities in IOK

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Monday strongly condemned the Sunday incident of firing at the helicopter of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider by the Indian border troops near the Line of Control (LoC) in the AJK.

“The house strongly condemns the Indian military’s attack on a civilian helicopter carrying AJK PM flying within the territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on September 30.

“The bullets were fired at the helicopter from an Indian post across the LoC,” said the resolution tabled by the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.

“The Indians continue to violate the ceasefire agreement besides committing atrocities in the Indian Occupied Kashmir although they have miserably failed to suppress the will and the resolve of Kashmiri people who are fighting for their right of self-determination,” the resolution added.



The firing incident took place at Havaily district in Poonch sector while the AJK premier was on his way to a nearby village to condole with the family of a politician who had died recently.

It occurred just days after the two rival neighbours used the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session to accuse each other of derailing the prospects of peace talks and sponsoring terrorism.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government after coming to power in August offered talks to India and the New Delhi at first accepted the proposal of a meeting between foreign ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of the UNGA.

However, India later backtracked, citing killing of an Indian official in the occupied Kashmir. The Indian army chief Bippan Rawat also threatened Pakistan of ‘more’ surgical strikes as Islamabad asked New Delhi ‘not to test its patience’.

Discussion on mini-budget

A discussion on the PTI government’s first mini-budget continued on second week in the house where the treasury benches defended the government policies while the opposition took on the government for the ‘anti-people’ budget.



Minister for Planning Khusro Bakhtiar said the previous government did not develop Gwadar but made tall claims about building the port city. “They did not even provide clean drinking water, electricity in Gwadar and they claim to have developed the city,” he said

The minister announced that the PTI government would develop Gwadar and an oil city would be established there. Bakhtiar also urged to broader base of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“The advantages which could be reaped during the last five years were not capitalised upon. The former PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz) government did not develop even a single economic zone, falling under CPEC,” he added, amid jeers and boos by PML-N members.

Former information minister Marriyam Aurnagzeb took on the government for ‘failed and flawed’ policies and not fulfilling the promises that were made to improve the lives of countrymen.

She said on one hand there was a talk about stunting and malnutrition among children but, according to her, the government had not included a single project in the budget to materialise the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s first address to the nation.

“The government dropped 45 projects of the higher education and cut 27% of the budget of the education ministry,” she said. “Several projects fordevelopment of the Gwadar port were also slashed.”

Later, the session was adjourned to meeting again at 10am Tuesday morning. The discussion on the mini-budget will continue today.