Pakistan names 22 MPs to rake up Kashmir issue at UN

NEW DELHI: Even as India continues to ramp up pressure on Islamabad over its incitement of violence and unrest in Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday announced that he has tasked 22 parliamentarians with raking up the Kashmir issue in various international forums.
"I have decided to send these parliamentarians for fighting the Kashmir cause in different parts of the world.These special envoys have strength of the people of Pakistan, prayers from the Kashmiri people across the Line of Control, mandate of the Parliament and support from the government", Pakistani news outlets reported the country's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as saying.
Sharif's announcement comes days after a snub from India, which flatly refused an 'invitation' from Islamabad to hold talks on Kashmir. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, responding to the invitation from Islamabad, had termed Pakistan the " prime perpetrator of terrorism in the region ".
India's stinger on Friday had come even as Sartaj Aziz, Sharif's Adviser on Foreign Affairs, met ambassadors of the US, UK, France, Russia and China apart from the European Union envoy, in a bid to internationalize the ongoing unrest in Kashmir.
Pakistan's efforts have so far failed to make any significant impact in either Washington DC or at the UN .
India has taken an aggressive line against Pakistan in recent weeks, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling Islamabad that he would be forced to raise international attention to human rights abuses in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province if Islamabad continued to incite violence and terrorism in Kashmir.
Pakistan has repeatedly ignored India's statement and expresses support to secessionist voices in Kashmir, which has seen protests for the past two months. The unrest was triggered by the killing of Burhan Wani, a terrorist of the Pakistan-backed Hizbul Mujahideen.