Further needling India on the Kashmir issue, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday nominated 22 parliamentarians as special envoys to be despatched to world capitals to highlight the issue.
“We will also remind the United Nations its long-held promise of self-determination to the Kashmiri people,” Mr. Sharif said.
The move by Mr. Sharif comes in the backdrop of escalating war of words between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the continuing unrest in the Kashmir Valley that broke out on July 8 after the killing of miltant Burhan Wani by security forces.
“The Prime Minister urged the special envoys to ensure their efforts for highlighting the Kashmir cause across the world so that he can shake the collective conscience of the international community during his address at the UN this September,” Radio Pakistan reported.
“We will also make it clear to India that it was India that approached the UN several decades back on Kashmir dispute but now it is not fulfilling its promise,” Mr. Sharif said.
The Kashmir problem is the most persistent failure of the UN and that the world body must establish its relevance, he said.
“I have decided to send these parliamentarians for fighting the Kashmir cause in different parts of the world.
These special envoys have the strength of the people of Pakistan, prayers from the Kashmiri people across the Line of Control, the mandate of the parliament and support from the government,” Mr. Sharif said in a statement.
“Generation after generation of Kashmiris have seen only broken pledges and ruthless oppression,” Mr. Sharif claimed.
He emphasised that this anniversary of the UN ought to be a catalyst, spurring the world body into action.
“We cannot relent from the Kashmir cause by any stretch of the imagination,” Mr. Sharif said.
