Balochistan Assembly adopts resolution against PM Modi

The Balochistan Assembly has adopted an unanimous resolution in which it has criticized Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the issue of alleged human rights violations in the province during his recent Independence Day speech.

Tabled by Pakistan Mulsim League-Nawaz lawmaker Muhammad Khan Lehri and supported by all political parties, the resolution was signed by Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and other legislators, reports the Dawn.

Lehri was quoted by the Dawn, as saying that the "Indian Prime Minister has violated the sovereignty of Pakistan and United Nations charter in this regard."

It may be recalled that during his third Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Modi had thanked the Baloch people for their support after a number of separatist leaders published videos praising him for acknowledging their cause for freedom previously.

He also used his address to the nation from the ramparts of the 17th-century Red Fort in Old Delhi on August 15, to lash out at supporters of terrorism, without directly naming Pakistan as the perpetrator of this menace from its soil.

Modi's reference to Balochistan in such a prominent speech was unusual and has ratcheted up tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.