Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The AJK President Sardar Masood Khan has termed as a good omen the call of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohammad for a negotiated solution to Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN resolutions. Talking to Malaysian High Commission Ikram Mohammad Ibrahim here on Thursday, he thanked Prime Minister Mahatir for adopting a principled and categorical stand on Kashmir issue, and said that the people of Pakistan and Kashmir will remain indebted to him for his support to the just Kashmir cause.
The AJK president asserted that the Malaysian leader has highlighted the UN role and the rule of law as the center point for the solution of Kashmir issue. He, however, regretted that instead of paying heed to the advice of this great leader, India had launched a boycott campaign against Malaysia. The Malaysian high commission said that his country would uphold its principled stand on Kashmir, and side by side with maintaining the best diplomatic ties with Pakistan, it would establish cultural and economic relations with Azad Kashmir also.
Earlier, speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the Kashmiri Initiative Society under the auspices of University of Lahore, the AJKpresident said that the state government with the cooperation of the OIC and the federal government, was working to preserve the history, culture and herage of Kashmir.
He said that necessary steps were being gradually taken to turn the liberated territory into a paradise for tourists because of its natural beauty, pleasant weather and traditional hospitality. ‘More than 1.5 million tourists visit Azad Kashmir every year, which is an encouraging development,’ he added.
He hoped that Kashmir Initiative Society will serve as a center of excellence for the Pakistani students in regard to Kashmir issue. He said that in spite having the option of remaining a sovereign state, more than 500,000 Kashmiri people have so far sacrifices their lives in the quest to incorporate into Pakistan. no power on the earth can compel the Kashmiri people to give up their struggle because to us, Pakistan and Kashmir were incomplete without each other.
Expressing concern over the lockdown of occupied Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan said that the August 6 action of India taken without the approval of the Kahsmiri people was a crime under the international law. ‘Repression of Indian Army in occupied Kashmir, unprovoked firing at the Line of Control, and threats of Indian rulers to attack Pakistan and Azad Kashmir are leading the region towards a disastrous nuclear war,’ he warned.
Meanwhile, strongly condemning unprovoked shelling by the Indian troops at the LoC thereby causing loss of life and property to the innocent people of Azad Kashmir, the AJK president has called upon the international community particularly the United Nations, to take notice of Indian provocative actions. In a statement issued in Islamabad, he said India’s ugly and cowardly acts could not deter the people of Azad Kashmir from becoming part of liberation movement nor would these succeed in future also.
