Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir Raja Farooq Haider said on Thursday that economically and politically stable democratic Pakistan is necessary for the Kashmiris' freedom struggle. "The Kashmiris are waging a just struggle for the stability of Pakistan. The moral, political and diplomatic support for the Kashmiris must continue for internationalising the cause of their freedom," Raja said while addressing the members of Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) at a local hotel on Thursday.
Praising Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for courageously highlighting the Kashmir cause in the UN General Assembly, he said the premier's address was as per expectations of the nation. "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his address asserted that Pakistan is a peace-loving country which did not want confrontation with any country," he said. Slamming Indian brutalities against unarmed people in the Occupied Kashmir, the AJK premier said: "Indian policy of oppression and violence has failed in Kashmir. No amount of state terrorism can weaken the spirit of freedom of Kashmiri people." Answering a question, he said, they wanted resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN resolutions and that the freedom struggle of Kashmiris was bound to succeed.
Answering another question, Raja said Indian PM Narendra Modi wanted to isolate Pakistan and that was why he had joined hands with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. "India is worried over CPEC and wants to create obstacles in its completion but it would never succeed in its evil designs," he said. He further said that political parties in India might get support in the coming election in Utter Pradesh due to the anti-Pakistan policy.
The AJK PM said Pakistan had already waged two wars with India over Kashmir. "We do not want to create war hysteria." To another query, he said comparing ZA Bhutto with Bilawal Bhutto was injustice. "When ZA Bhutto had gone to Shimla, there were leaders like Mumtaz Doultana, Mufti Mahmud, Maulana Maudodi but now the situation is different." He, however, said PM Nawaz met the Kashmiri leaders before proceeding to the US and noted down their suggestions.
He further said leaders like Imran Khan, Bilawal Bhutto and Asif Zardari in their foreign trips should also highlight the Kashmir issue as per settled policy on Kashmir. CPNE President Zia Shahid, former CPNE heads Mujeeb ur Rehman Shami, Arif Nizami, senior journalists Shaheen Qureshi, Ayaz Khan, Irshad Arif, Khalid Chaudhry and others were present.