Pakistanis stand behind army to counter Indian aggression: FM Qureshi

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday night said that the whole nation of 220 million stands behind the armed forces, who are fully prepared to counter any aggression by India.

Qureshi was addressing a public meeting at Rangeelpur, where local politician Rana Sajjad Hameed and his group joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader. 

In an emotional reference to the past, Qureshi said that Islamic history was replete with the successes of Muslims against their enemies, despite being short in numbers or having limited resources.

"Pakistan had an army of 220 million people, including the youth, students, labourers, farmers and others, who are at the back of their forces," the minister told the public gathering. 

Referring to the Indian aggression in occupied Kashmir, Qureshi noted that India had on many occasions promised at the United Nations that it would hold a referendum in the occupied valley, but never delivered. 

Qureshi also criticized the fascist leanings of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the Indian premier had even lost the support of pro-government leaders of occupied Kashmir. 

"If the Modi government has courage, it should lift curfew and see how the people of held Kashmir would respond by coming into the streets," the minister added.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, in an interview to a reputed world news channel, had stated that the world could not be a silent spectator as the two nuclear powers were on the verge of war.

Irrespective of the fact that whether the other countries supported the Kashmiris or not, Pakistan would continue to raise its voice for their right to self-determination and extend them its full support, remarked Qureshi.

Provincial Minister for Energy Dr Akhtar Malik, Federal Parliamentary Secretary on Finance Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi, MPA Javed Akhtar Ansari and hundreds of PTI workers were also present on this occasion.