‘Obama’s visit averted a looming nuclear war’

PM of AJK said US President Barrack Obama’s visit to India prevented a looming nuclear war.

MUZAFFARABAD: The prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) said on Saturday that US President Barrack Obama’s visit to India prevented a looming nuclear war in the subcontinent.

“President Obama’s visit averted a nuclear war in the subcontinent,” Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, the prime minister (PM), said during his address to a public gathering in Hajira, a town near the Line of Control (LoC) in the southern district of Rawalakot.

His statement comes amid the prevailing frustration on both sides of the LoC over the US president’s remarks. Obama, during his visit, offered his support to India in its bid to gain permanent membership in the United Nations’ Security Council.

PM Khan, instead, chose to focus on US president’s push for a stronger Pakistan during his visit and that a lasting peace in the region cannot be achieved without a solution to the Kashmir dispute. He added that All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders Syed Gilani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have also appreciated Obama’s visit.

During his address, he also said that the AJK government had initiated projects worth Rs11 billion for the development of towns and villages along the LoC. He, however, did not go into the details of the projects.

“[We have launched several projects] for the provision of better facilities of life to the tens of thousands of people living in 13 electoral constituencies of AJK that border with LOC,” he said.

Ministers and members of the legislative assembly were also present at the gathering.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2010.