Former Prime Minister AJK and President of All Jammu Kashmir Muslim Conference Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan on Saturday opposed the government's decision of granting MFN status to India. He feared that a deep-rooted conspiracy has been hatched on the part of India in the name of trade to cripple down Pakistan's economy.
He urged the government to take all the stakeholders on board, as India is working on multi-dimensional strategy under the garb of bilateral trade. Talking to a group of mediamen at a local hotel, Khan, who is also a member of AJK Legislative Assembly said that Kashmir conflict and water issues were still unresolved and needed government's attention before MFN status was granted to India.
He said the Indian Prime Minister had twice declared that consent of Pakistan Army was therein as far as the MFN status by Pakistan was concerned. Neither the government of Pakistan nor the ISPR have clarified as to why the Indian PM was speaking on their behalf, he lamented.
He termed extension of MFN status to India as a serious matter, adding that the government has taken the decision in haste. Islamabad would not get anything out of this move and the country's local industry would suffer, he said. He said Kashmiris always wanted India and Pakistan to have friendly relations but it was not possible without improving the prevailing human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir. "Granting MFN status to India under the prevailing circumstances was tantamount to lending credence to bloodshed of innocent Kashmiris by India," he said.