The government came under severe criticism in the National Assembly on Friday as opposition parties said the country has failed to highlight the issue of Kashmir through diplomatic channels before the international community.
Taking part in a discussion over prevailing situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir in National Assembly, Khawaja Asif of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said that Kashmir issue demands sincerity and seriousness instead of politics.
He said that Pakistan faced diplomatic defeat on Kashmir issue despite being a nuclear power, adding it is a failure for Pakistan that no country other than Malaysia, Turkey and China voiced support for Pakistan on Kashmir issue.
In an obvious reference to Gulf countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others, he said that some Muslim countries didn't even bother to say a single word in support of innocent Kashmiris.
He also declared Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) a "dead horse' for not holding a summit on Kashmir issue, adding this organization has lost its credibility and doesn't even worth calling a debating club.
Asif said that IOK has turned into the biggest prison all over the world due to never-ending curfew but world community is acting as a silent spectator, which is quite shameful. He regretted that all minorities in India are worried after Modi won the elections, but the Pakistani Prime Minister was sure that his victory would help resolve Kashmir issue.
"What our Prime Minister thought about Modi's victory, proved a complete opposite. Modi is not receiving his calls, but he kept giving 'missed calls' at his number," he regretted.
Asif added that Kashmir is jugular vein of Pakistan and government should take concrete steps to help Kashmiris. While criticizing the PTI, he said that the government wasted a golden opportunity of exposing true face of India to the world after controversial citizen bill was passed by Indian parliament.
The PML-N leader said that Kashmir is a humanitarian issue as mobile and internet services are still not available to Kashmiris. He added that Kashmiris are chanting slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad' because they want freedom from India. Khawaja Asif said that former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif sent delegations to 30 countries to raise Kashmir issue.
He added that Nawaz Sharif paid tribute to Burhan Wani at UN and on the other hand, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi raises Kashmir issue more in Multan as compared to international forums. Raja Pervez Ahsraf of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said that the Parliament failed to play its due role in highlighting Kashmir issue due to incompetence of the government.
"The PTI government should have sent parliamentary leaders of all political parties to all the world capitals to highlight the issue of Kashmir, but it didn't," he flayed. He said that the way the armed forces of Pakistan are playing their role, the government should have played its role through the Parliament and diplomatic offensive to expose Modi Sarkar.
Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Syed Fakhar Imam said that resolution of the longstanding Kashmir dispute is the dire need of the hour as two nuclear states are standing eyeball to eyeball over the issue. Initiating the discussion over the prevailing situation in the Occupied Kashmir in the National Assembly in Islamabad, he said Kashmiri people are passing through the worst phase of their lives as they are jailed in their own homes.
He said that Indian occupation forces have destroyed the local economy of Kashmiris and now they are targeting the innocent people for ethnic cleansing. He said with the continuous efforts of the government, Kashmir issue has once again been internationalized, but still the issue demands more support from the international community.
Imam said the Quaid-e-Azam's vision about creation of Pakistan based on the 'Two-Nation Theory' has been vindicated after the illegal and unilateral action of India on 5th August. Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur said that the opposition should not try to politicize the issue of Kashmir, as government is making all-out efforts to expose India at all fora.