Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will be addressing his country on the “issue of Kashmir”, his special assistant, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, announced on Twitter. Imran Khan will speak at around 5:30 pm,local time (6 pm IST).Imran Khan’s address comes at a time when Islamabad hasbeen making a lot of noise over the Narendra Modi government’s recent move tomake Article 370 of the Indian constitution inoperative. Article 370 granted Jammu and Kashmir ‘special status’, under which the state enjoyed its own laws and rights.
The Modi government has also moved to bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.The move effectively brings the region under the Centre’s rule.Pakistan has come out in protest over the recent developments surrounding Jammu &Kashmir and has even tried to internationalise the issue.
However, Islamabad has not received much support on a global level, with most countries agreeing with New Delhi’s stand that the decisionsrelating to Jammu and Kashmir are India’s internal matters.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir continues to be under a communications blackout with the situation on the ground slowly limping back tonormalcy.
A delegation of Opposition leaders led by Rahul Gandhi attempted visiting the Kashmir Valley over the weekend. However, the delegationwas sent back from the Srinagar airport over fears that its presence therewould disrupt attempts being made to restore normalcy in the region.Significantly,Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s address comes on the last day of the G7 Summit inFrance, which is being attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Agencies
