Muzaffarabad: Chairman of the Parliamentary Kashmir Committee and Federal Minister Rana Qasim Noon said on Thursday that Pakistan is incomplete without Kashmir and vowed that Pakistan will stand with the Kashmiri people against all forms of aggression. Speaking at a press conference at the Central Press Club, Muzaffarabad, alongside committee member Sardar Fatahullah Khan, he warned that any new Indian adventurism would be met with a decisive response.
Rana Qasim Noon praised the Kashmiri struggle and said Pakistan has fought wars for the rights of Kashmiris and will never abandon their cause. He described the recent success in the just cause as having established Pakistan’s strength on the international stage while isolating India diplomatically. He said the Kashmir issue has once again been brought to global attention after the events of May 10.
Highlighting development priorities for Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Rana Qasim Noon announced plans to build Mirpur Airport and said the Parliamentary Kashmir Committee has taken up the matter of making Muzaffarabad and Rawalakot airports fully operational. He said the committee is committed to political and economic stability in the region.
The chairman said the committee has also raised the issue of vocational training for AJK youth under the Neutech initiative, which he said will provide technical training to 5,000 young people from Azad Kashmir. He warned that Indian policies in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, including what he described as demographic engineering and the extension of military powers, aim to erase Kashmiri identity, but said such attempts would not succeed.
Rana Qasim Noon paid tribute to the martyrs of the freedom struggle and affirmed that the Kashmiri and Pakistani identities are one. Recalling comments by Field Marshal Asim Munir that Pakistan would be prepared to fight for Kashmir if necessary, he praised the Pakistan Army’s recent actions against India and said the armed forces have set an example of valor.
Announcing plans to further internationalize the Kashmir issue, Rana Qasim Noon said the committee will soon organize an international Kashmir conference in Islamabad and invite delegates from around the world.
The press conference began with a briefing on the history of the Central Press Club by its president Sajad Qayyum Mir.