PRIME Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar is a prominent and dedicated political activist who has been actively engaged in mainstream politics since 2008. Kakar, the esteemed leader of Pakistan with a population exceeding 240 million, holds a degree in political science and sociology. He has been a Member of the Senate of Pakistan since March 2018, initially elected as an independent candidate on a general seat from Balochistan in the 2018 Senate election. He took his oath as Senator on 12 March 2018. Previously, he played a significant role in the establishment of a new political party called the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).
Unanimously, former PM Shehbaz Sharif and former opposition leader Raja Riaz decided that the caretaker Prime Minister should be someone from a smaller province and a non-controversial figure. Thus Kakar’s name was picked for the coveted post of the Interim Prime Minister of the country. Kakar’s selection was an apparent shocker for many, as earlier several candidates including Sadiq Sanjrani, Jalil Abbas Jillani and others surfaced for the slot. During his visit to the US, Premier Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar successfully represented his country, marking a visit of high significance. In New York, he attended the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly. Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani and Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi were also part of his delegation.
The PM held a meeting with the President of Iran Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi and attended the igh-level meeting on Global Development Initiative and the SDG Summit Leaders’ Dialogue. At the SDG Summit Leaders Dialogue, the Premier highlighted the challenges in attainment of SDGs, especially for developing countries. He called for climate justice, including the fulfilment of the pledge for over $100 billion annually in climate finance, allocation of half of this amount to climate adaptation and the urgent launch of the Fund for “Loss and Damage”. The PM attended the Climate Ambition Summit 2023 and High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development.
On 22 September 2023, PM Kakar addressed the UN General Assembly session. In his address, the PM outlined Pakistan’s perspective on a range of regional and global issues, including the longstanding unresolved Jammu & Kashmir dispute on the UN Agenda. He also shared the measures taken by Pakistan to consolidate economic recovery and efforts to mobilize domestic and external investments. The Prime Minister remained extremely busy in New York. He participated in several multilateral engagements, including discussions on the Middle East Peace and a meeting of the OIC Six-Member Committee for Palestine. Following the instructions of PM Kakar on the sidelines, FM Jilani held bilateral meetings with a number of his counterparts including the Foreign Ministers of Belarus, Cuba, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He also addressed the Asia Society. At the OIC Committee Meeting, the FM underscored Pakistan’s principled stance of a two–state solution to the Palestine issue.
Prime Minister Kakar strongly condemned the recent unjustified attacks of Israel on Palestine in which hundreds of innocent Palestinians have martyred. A continuation of such unfortunate incident constitutes a flagrant violation of the relevant international norms and conventions. It is an affront to the religious sentiments of Muslims around the world. The PM focused that Pakistan reiterates its call upon the international community to act in concert to bring an end to Israel’s escalatory practices in the interest of peace, security and stability in the Middle East and beyond. Kakar viewed that during the first eight months of this year, the Indian occupation forces in (IIOJK) have killed 68 Kashmiris, including women and children. There were thirteen custodial killings. During this period, 2963 individuals including political activists, business people, women and youths were arbitrarily arrested.
Such acts are aimed at breaking the Kashmiri people’s will and determination to demand their rights and freedom including the inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. These human rights violations must end and their perpetrators should be held accountable. He added that Pakistan will continue extending political, diplomatic and moral support to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters for justice and peaceful settlement of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions.
The PM believes that Indian involvement in an extra-judicial killing in Canada has shown that India’s network of extra-territorial killings has now gone global. For decades, Indian intelligence RAW has been actively involved in abductions and assassinations in South Asia. Pakistan has been a target of a series of targeted killings and espionage by RAW. In December last year, Pakistan released a comprehensive dossier providing concrete and irrefutable evidence of India’s involvement in the Lahore attack of June 2021. That attack was planned and executed by Indian intelligence. In 2016, a high-ranking Indian Navy Commander, Kulbhushan Yadav, clearly confessed to his involvement in directing, financing, and executing acts of terrorism and sabotage in Pakistan. India’s assassination of a Sikh Canadian national on Canadian soil is a clear violation of international law and the UN principle of state sovereignty. It is also a reckless and irresponsible act that calls into question India’s reliability as a credible partner and its claims for enhanced global responsibilities.
On several occasions, Kakar has emphasized his vision for a peaceful neighbourhood, which includes combating terrorism, establishing peace and stability in the country, and resolving outstanding disputes between Pakistan and India. Specifically, he emphasizes the need to address the Jammu & Kashmir issue in accordance with UN Resolutions, as well as advocating for a resolution of the Palestine and Israel conflict in alignment with UN Resolutions.
—The writer is editor, book ambassador political analyst and author of several books based in Islamabad.
Email: [email protected]
