It’s India’s habit to blame Pakistan: Nawaz

NEW YORK: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said it was New Delhi’s habit to hurl allegations at Pakistan and asked how it had reached the conclusion within 10 to 12 hours of the Uri attack that it was conducted by Pakistan when smoke was still emanating from the debris. He said even a layman wouldn’t believe in the Indian accusations made in such a way.

“This shows the malice and mala fide intentions of New Delhi towards Pakistan,” he said in a breakfast chat with the Pakistani media at the hotel a day before returning home after delivering a historic speech in the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) 71st Summit session here.

The premier was flanked by his Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative for the UN Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) for Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Pakistan’s envoy to the US Syed Jalil Abbas Jilani and Pakistan’s envoy for Cuba Kamran Shafi.

Nawaz said had India put the blame on Pakistan after three to four weeks of the Uri incident, one could believe it but the Indians had exposed themselves by making the allegation in a raw manner.

The prime minister announced that Pakistan was dispatching dossiers to all the important world capitals to prove the Indian brutalities and atrocities perpetrated by the occupation forces of India in held Kashmir.

Such a dossier was handed over to UN Secretary General (UNSG) Ban Ki-Moon earlier by the prime minister.

“The pictures given in the dossier shocked the top man of the world body since he hadn’t seen them before. I am pretty sure that other world leaders have also not seen the horrible pictures,” Nawaz guessed.

The prime minister sought proposals from the media for steering the IHK dispute ahead for its resolution and reminded the media representatives that his government was confronting three major challenges at the outset and they were all being addressed in the best possible manner.

“The whole world and leaders who had been meeting me are conceding the successes made by Pakistan for elimination of terrorism, overcoming the shortage of power and marked improvement in the economy as thousands of megawatts of electricity will be added to the system by 2018,” he added.

Nawaz said the world leaders had given a positive response to Pakistan’s stance on the Kashmir issue.

The premier said he had informed the leaders of the United States, China, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey and other countries about the prevailing grave human rights situation in the IHK and they all tried to understand Pakistan’s position.

Nawaz said Turkey had promised to send a fact finding mission to the IHK and a similar response was given by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Nawaz said when he shared the dossier on the Indian brutalities in the IHK with the UN secretary general, he was moved by the victims’ photographs and said the UN diplomats would see into it.

Nawaz said he had urged the UN secretary general to implement the UN resolutions on Kashmir.

He said India had also promised to give the Kashmiris the right to self-determination but it had failed to honor its promises.

He said the world needs to pay attention to the precarious situation in the IHK where innocent people were being martyred.

He said Kashmiris cannot remain silent on this worst violence and they will obviously resist though they remain under prolonged curfew.

Nawaz said Iranian President Hasan Rouhani during a meeting with him, stated that Chabahar and Gwadar ports will complement each other instead of being competitors.

To another question, the prime minister reiterated the resolve that the war against terrorism will be taken to its logical end. He said the Pakistani security forces and civil society had sacrificed a lot in the war against terrorism.

He expressed satisfaction over his interaction with the world leaders on the sidelines of the UNGA and said the Kashmir dispute was on the top during the discussions.

He discarded the allegations by India, saying that he had been listening to them for about three days. “It has no merit.”

He was satisfied about the decisions of various international orgaisations for consigning facts-finding mission to the IHK for probing the atrocities committed by India against the innocent people of the area. “I hope India wouldn’t hinder their task.”

Nawaz said he had also raised the question of Pakistan’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) with the group member countries besides Kashmir and other issues of Pakistan’s interest during his hectic schedule.

Nawaz reminded that it was an equal responsibility of the world that the Kashmir dispute was settled as the whole world had pledged its resolution through the verdict of the UN Security Council. “It’s not alone India’s responsibility to settle it, as it’s an international dispute,” he said.

He said India had martyred 108 innocent Kashmiris and more than 150 children, women, elders and young people had been blinded and thousands injured by the occupying forces in the IHK.

“Why does India expect it would continue with its cruelties unabated and Kashmiris will not do anything about it?”

Nawaz expressed the resolve that the war against terror will be taken to its logical end. He said the Pakistani security forces and civil society had sacrificed a lot in the war against terrorism.

“More than 24,000 people have laid down their lives for elimination of terror, including valiant jawans and officers of the armed forces, members of law enforcement agencies, civil society and common man. More than 200,000 personnel of the armed forces have been deployed for fighting terrorism. They are proving success.”

To a question, the prime minister said loadshedding will end in 2018.

Responding to certain queries made by the media, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said new alignments were emerging in the world and it was untrue that Pakistan was suffering from global isolation. He asked the media to play its role for highlighting the atrocities being committed by Indian occupation forces in the IHK, as the responsibility for highlighting the issue was not confined to the government and the Foreign Office alone.

Nawaz also held a separate meeting with the World Bank Executive Director Nasir Mahmood Khan Khosa.