WAH CANTT - Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan, president All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (AJKMC) and former PM of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has said that the federal government has failed to deliver on Kashmir issue.
Instead of working on Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is promoting trade with India, said Attique while talking to newspersons after addressing a function here on Saturday. He added that trade with India would further damage national industry with Indian products domination. He alleged that Nawaz and his team were marketing their own business of iron and cement.
He said that giving the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India was tantamount to damaging Pakistan’s economy and any trade initiative with the neighbouring country should be linked with resolution of various issues including Kashmir. He said though the AJKMC never opposed Pak-India trade and other bilateral relations, it was of the view that there were various important issues such as Kashmir dispute, Kishan Ganga Dam, Wuller Barrage, Sir Creek etc which should be resolved on priority basis.
“India also plans opening of banks in Pakistan in order to make the country’s economy dependent on it. So Pakistan should closely watch this conspiracy and devise an effective trade policy by linking it with the Kashmir issue resolution,” he said.
He said whether it was backdoor diplomacy or traditional diplomacy, what General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf did for Kashmir cause was remarkable. He added that after Musharraf, successive governments failed to devise a clear and strong policy on Kashmir; resultantly, despite sacrificing over 600,000 lives, Kashmir issue was still on the backburner.
Responding to a question about the government-Taliban talks, he lauded the army’s decision to remain on the sideline from the negotiation process and said that it was responsibility of the elected government to make policy. He said that presently non-state parties were in power and opposition in AJK Assembly had failed to deliver and resolve problems of the masses.
Earlier addressing as chief guest of Gandhara Youth Forum Performance Award ceremony, Attique termed it a laudable step to recognise the services of those personalities of Taxila and Wah Cantt who had brought laurels in different fields of life including education, health, sports and public service.
On this occasion special prize was awarded to Atizaz Hasan, the student who sacrificed his life to stop a suicide bomber from entering a school in Hangu, and special students of Nashman School of special education who won different medals in para-Olympics.
Former Federal Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Director Sweet Homes Ansar Malik, Ishaq Bangash Advocate, uncle of slain hero Atizaz Hasan, Chairman Pashtun-Punjabi Itthad Qadeem Khan, and President Gandhara Youth Forum Mehmood Ali Taqqi also spoke on this occasion.