Asif warns against 'anti-Pak agenda' in AJK

ISLAMABAD:

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday blasted the actions of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), calling for a firm response to voices influenced by an external and anti-Pakistan agenda.

In a statement posted on social media platform X, the minister said his recent remarks on the crisis in AJK had been "frank and honest", accusing individuals pursuing "hidden and negative agendas" of deliberately distorting his comments.

He maintained that no one could drive a wedge between Pakistan and Kashmir or separate Kashmir from Pakistan, saying the sacrifices made by Kashmiris and Pakistan over the past several decades remained inseparable from the country's position on the disputed territory.

Asif said the sacrifices of Kashmiris who migrated to Pakistan during October 1947 were etched in history, while the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) had spent the last 78 years resisting Indian occupation through sacrifices, martyrdom and imprisonment.