Pakistan's National Assembly speaker sends letters on Kashmir to counterparts of 196 Parliaments

Islamabad: Speaker of Pakistan`s National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, has written letters to the Speakers of 196 Parliaments to highlight the ongoing protests in the Kashmir Valley and garner diplomatic and political support for what Islamabad calls the freedom struggle of Kashmiri people.

Speaking to President of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Masood Khan, the Speaker said that the Kashmir issue is the priority of Pakistan`s Parliament and there is a unanimous consensus across the political parties in Parliament, reports the Nation.

He said that Islamabad would continue to extend its unwavering moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris for their unalienable right of self-determination, as enshrined in the UN Charter and relevant UN resolutions.

Appreciating Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s decision to send its Parliamentarians as envoys to garner diplomatic support for Kashmir cause, Sadiq remarked that Parliamentary diplomacy will awaken the conscience of the international community to take notice of the Kashmir issue.

He also that the National Assembly of Pakistan has called an International Conference on the Kashmir issue from 13-14th October 2016, in Islamabad to generate international support for the freedom of Kashmiri people.

The Speaker also remarked that he pulled back Pakistan from hosting 61st Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference as its chosen President when India agitated for extending an invitation to Assembly of Kashmir.

He asserted that Pakistan`s principled stance on Kashmir was more important than hosting Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.

Meanwhile, India has while commenting on the letter written by Sharif to the United Nations said that these letters won`t change the reality that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.

"Pakistan can write as many letters as they want to the UN. It won`t change the ground situation that Jammu And Kashmir is an integral part of India. Also the ground reality is that part of Jammu and Kashmir is under illegal occupation of Pakistan," MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in New Delhi.