Kashmir will never be a part of Pakistan: Sushma Swaraj hits back at Nawaz Sharif

New Delhi: Pakistan has never exported good wishes to Kashmir but only weapons and terrorism, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday.

“Pakistan’s Prime Minister (Nawaz Sharif) says that his good wishes are with the people of Kashmir.,” Sushma Swaraj said in a statement to the media. “Sadly, it’s not Pakistan’s good wishes or moral or diplomatic support but its weapons and terrorism that it has exported to Jammu and Kashmir,” she said. Sushma Swaraj was flanked by Ministers of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh and M.J. Akbar as she read out the statement. Her strongly worded statement comes after Sharif's statement on Friday at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir that Pakistanis were waiting for the day when Jammu and Kashmir would become a part of Pakistan. In his first public address following his return from London after open heart surgery in May, Sharif urged Kashmiris in Pakistan "not to forget those in (Indian) held Kashmir who are sacrificing their lives to their movement for freedom”. "Their movement for freedom cannot be stopped and it will be successful. You are aware of how they are being beaten and killed. All our prayers are with them and we are waiting for the day Kashmir becomes Pakistan," the Dawn quoted him as saying. Pakistan has taken a stridently anti-India line since mass protests erupted in the Kashmir Valley after the July 8 killing by Indian security forces of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. Street clashes between those protesting Wani's killing and the security forces have left over 45 people dead and hundreds injured. Many have been blinded by pellets used by the security forces. In her statement, Sushma Swaraj said that Pakistan’s dirty money, dangerous terrorists and duplicitous state institutions sought to destabilise the region. “The statement of none other than the Prime Minister of Pakistan has betrayed this despicable design. But I would like to repeat that this dream of Pakistan will never be fulfilled,” she said. She stated that in the last few days, the Pakistani leadership, including Prime Minister Sharif, have praised as a martyr a wanted terrorist like Wani. “He was carrying an award of Rs. 10 lakh on his head because he had perpetrated heinous crimes including murder of elected representatives of local bodies and security forces/personnel,” Sushma Swaraj said. “Even more condemnable than these deplorable attempts from across our border to incite violence and glorify terrorists is the fact that these attempts have been undertaken by Pakistan’s state machinery in active partnership with UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed and other leading terrorists belonging to internationally proscribed organisations.” The External Affairs Minister said that a country which has used fighter planes and artillery against millions of its own people has no right whatsoever to point a finger against India's brave, professional and disciplined police and other security forces. “Their (Indian forces') restraint and respect for their fellow citizens is evident in the unusually high number of the injured personnel - more than 1700 - in the violence unleashed with the support from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir,” she stated. She said that behind Pakistan’s unabashed embrace and encouragement to terrorism lay its delusional though dangerous dream that Kashmir would one day become Pakistan. “The whole of India would like to tell Prime Minister of Pakistan that this dream will not be realised even at the end of eternity,” Sushma Swaraj said. “The whole of Jammu and Kashmir belongs to India. You will never be able to make this heaven on earth a haven for terrorists.”