AJK president urges youth to thwart conspiracies against Pakistan

Sardar Masood says enemies hatching conspiracies to keep the country deprived of dividends of development, prosperity

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that the responsibility of thwarting conspiracies being hatched by enemies to keep Pakistan deprived of dividends of development and prosperity falls upon the country's youth.

Addressing students and teachers of Lawrence College here on Sunday, he said that the country’s youth were fully capable of turning Pakistan into an economic and defense power. “Young students guarantee bright future of the country,” he said, adding that the youth would have to prepare themselves to cope with the challenges confronting Pakistan, and to play a vibrant role in turning it into a peaceful, developed and prosperous state.

Sardar Masood Khan said the country is blessed with abundant natural and human resources and it is up to the new generation to ensure adequate use of these resources. “For this purpose, it is imperative to ensure that national security institutions are strong, we have cutting edge nuclear technology, law and order prevails in the country and our educational institutions prepare a generation who has leadership qualities in politics, economy and business,” he added.

CPEC to turn AJK into Pakistan’s ‘economic engine’: Masood

The AJK president stressed the need to eradicate poverty and provide education and health facilities as per the international standards by 2030. “By making the country’s defense and security invincible, we can make it to the list of top ten economically prosperous countries by 2050,” he added.

Responding to a question on Simla agreement, he said that the accord does not prevent Pakistan from raising Kashmir issue on international forums. Khan said India fraudulently conveyed to the international community that Kashmir had become a bilateral issue after Simla Accord and that it cannot be raised on an international forum.

“This claim on the part of India is baseless and Kashmiri people do not accept it,” he added.

The AJK president said that India has never shown sincerity to come to the negotiation table in the last 71 years, and it has always used the dialogue process as a tool to perpetuate its illegal occupation of the valley.

He lamented that hatred was being systematically promoted against Muslims in India under the official patronage and the targets of this wave are Indian Muslims, people of Jammu and Kashmir and the state of Pakistan.

Earlier, the principal of the college, Brigadier (retd) Mujahid Alam in his welcome address, expressed his profound gratitude to the president for visiting the institution. He briefly introduced Sardar Masood Khan to the students and faculty members by highlighting his services for the country as a career diplomat before becoming the AJK president.