Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday described Kashmir as Pakistan’s “jugular vein” and said that the Indian government’s decision to revoke the region’s special status had challenged the Islamabad’s “security and integrity”. Khan, in his address on the country’s Defence and Martyrs Day, said that his administration had initiated a proactive diplomatic campaign in the world capitals and at the United Nations to inform the international community about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, PTI reported.
September 6 is observed as Defence and Martyrs Day in Pakistan to commemorate the anniversary of its war with India in 1965. “I have also urged upon the international community to seriously consider the safety and security of India’s nuclear arsenal...this is an issue that impacts not just the South Asian region but the whole world,” Khan was quoted as saying.
On Wednesday, the Pakistan Army had also called Kashmir its jugular vein and had said it would go to any length to protect the region.
The Pakistani prime minister said that the global community would be responsible for the “catastrophic aftermath” it no attention was paid to India’s nuclear weaponry. “I have informed the world that Pakistan does not want war, but at the same time, Pakistan cannot remain oblivious to the challenges posed to its security and integrity,” Khan said.
Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa called Kashmir the “unfulfilled agenda of the completion of Pakistan” and said that it would remain that way till it is resolved under United Nations’ resolutions. He said that Islamabad had fulfilled its responsibilities against terrorism and now it was up to the international community to come through on its responsibility and eliminate all kinds of extremism and terrorism.
The fight now was against poverty, unemployment and economic backwardness, Bajwa added. He also said that Pakistan would continue to support the Afghanistan peace process and said that complete peace was possible if all the local groups were involved in it.
Khan, on Thursday, marked the 32nd day since Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was revoked and alleged atrocities by Indian security personnel. “Under cover of this siege, Indian forces have killed, injured [with pellet guns], abused Kashmiri men, women and children,” he tweeted. “Men have been taken away and thrown into prisons across India.”
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