Odisha MLAs seek censure resolution on Sharif's statement

Odisha Assembly today condemned Pak PM Sharif for his reported statement that Kashmir is a flashpoint and can trigger a fourth war between India and Pakistan, the two nuclear powers, at anytime

The MLAs cutting across party lines in the Odisha assembly today unequivocally called for a censure resolution in the state assembly condemning the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s statement on war with India.

“Kashmir is a flashpoint and can trigger a fourth war between India and Pakistan, the two nuclear powers, at anytime,” he was quoted as saying by the Dawn daily in his brief address to the budget session of the ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Council’ in Pak-occupied Kashmir.

The MLAs of different parties today lashed out at the Pakistani prime minister’s statement. “Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. prime minister, chief minister and President do not belong to any party. Even if BJD is a regional party, it is committed towards the unity of India,” said Pravat Tripathy, BJD chief whip. BJD has no separate opinion from the rest of the country, he added. Expressing similar sentiments, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh said, on earlier occasions, India had given befitting reply to Pakistan’s aggression and in future it will continue to do so.

It is good if a censure resolution is moved on the issue, he added. Condemning the statement of Sharif, Panchayati Raj and Parliamentary Affairs minister, Kalapataru Das said, the Leader of Opposition, Leader of the House and Speaker should take initiative to pass a resolution. In response to his Pakistani counterpart’s statement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has hit back saying that he does not see the possibility of Pakistan winning any war against India in his “lifetime”.