Pakistan FM Qureshi urges political parties to stand united on Kashmir issue

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday urged all the political parties in the country to hold a united front on the Kashmir issue and not politicise the matter.

"I request them (the other parties) to not do politics on the Kashmir issue. Entire Pakistan should be united on the issue," Radio Pakistan reported Qureshi as saying at a press conference held here.

Qureshi's remarks came after he and Pakistan Peoples Party [PPP] chairman Bilawal Bhutto were seen together at the Muzaffarabad district to celebrate Eid ul-Azha and "show solidarity with the Kashmiri people."

Earlier, Bilawal had criticised the government for its response to the Indian government's move to abrogate Article 370. In a conversation with reporters, he had demanded the government to "show leadership" on the matter.

Furthermore, during a joint session of the National Assembly on Friday, lawmakers of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and main opposition PML-N had accused one another of trying to appease Prime Minister Narendra Modi on different occasions in the past.

In a fiery speech at the floor of the house, PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif had said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had "sold the future of Kashmir" and that the top leaders of the Opposition parties in the country were being arrested to divert public attention from the Kashmir issue.