Pakistan has decided to launch an awareness campaign against India on violation of human rights and criminal activities carried out by Indian forces in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir. Advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said this on Thursday in the Senate that Pakistan is going to mobilise overseas Kashmiris, think tanks and social media as comprehensive tools to create awareness about the Kashmir issue.
Responding to the points raised by PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar, he said that the BJP government in India has been intentionally violating the Line of Control and the Working Boundary. "We need to understand motives of India," he said, adding that India never took the peace process with Pakistan seriously. The aggression has escalated since the BJP came into power in India and the motive is to make Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir part of India. "Social media is an impressive tool to keep the issue of Kashmir alive; so we're planning to use it effectively," he said.
Sartaj said that India is keeping 700,000 troops in the Kashmir to suppress the people. "We are planning to start a campaign to highlight human rights violations by India troops in the Kashmir," he said, adding that overseas Kashmiris and different think tanks working on the subject would also be mobilised to keep the issue alive. Talking about the role of the United Nations, he said that the United Nations should play a proactive role to resolve the longstanding issue of Kashmir. The armed forces have been effectively responding to violation of the Line of Control and the Working Boundary by Indian forces; so we need to stand behind our troops, he said.
Clarifying a recent statement by Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions Lieutenant General Abdul Qadir Baloch (Retd), he said that Pakistan has never threatened India to use nuclear weapons against it. "The states that have got nuclear powers need to express discretion and responsibility to deal with conflicts," he said.
The advisor said the United States has been backing India for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. He, however, added that India could not manage two-third majority in the UN that is required for the permanent membership. Responding to a question raised by Syeda Sughra Imam, he said that the US Congress has been considering two bills to restrict reimbursement to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund and assistance programme, but they are yet to be passed.
"It would therefore be premature at this stage to make a judgement regarding their impact," he said. He said that Pakistan at the moment has had no lobbyist in the United States to influence the legislators for its benefit. "We don't need any lobbyist. We have mobilised our community there to liaise with legislators," he said. The advisor said that Pakistan's ambassador in the United States is a competent person and he is taking care of the country's interests in a good manner. "All our embassy officials are well connected and we don't need to spend money on any lobbyist," he said.
Senator Ilyas Bilour, however, said that had Pakistan a lobbyist in the United States, he would have arranged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's meeting with President Barack Obama during his recent trip to the United States. "India has a lobbyist [in the US] and Indian Prime Minister held meetings with President Obama and other dignitaries in the US during his trip," he said.
Aziz said the comparison between the treatment meted out to Indian prime minister and Pakistan's prime minister was not fair as the latter wasn't on an official trip to the US. "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held detailed meetings with President Obama and other US dignitaries in October when he was there on an official trip," he said.