Pakistan facing huge question marks on its conduct: Khurshid

With Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday nominating 22 parliamentarians as special envoys to be despatched to world capitals to highlight the Kashmir issue, former external affairs minister and Congress senior leader Salman Khurshid on Sunday said Islamabad is facing huge question marks on its conduct as it does not have a cause or a case to project before the world.

"I don't think that they have a cause and a case that they will ever be making out in the world. I think Pakistan has huge question marks on its conduct and we have been successful in persuading the world that terrorism is not just a matter that hurts India, but terrorism is something that hurts the world. And, I think, now for Pakistan to successfully reverse that position, as far as world opinion is concerned, is impossible," Khurshid told ANI.

Stating that there is nothing new in this as India and Pakistan had tried to do so in the past as well, he said, "I had the privilege to counter them in the company of none other than the then opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji in Geneva (Switzerland). We countered them; we went from India as a special delegation. If they want to match us in our determination and our response and reply, we will do so."

Prime Minister Sharif yesterday nominated 22 parliamentarians as special envoys, who will be highlighting the unrest in Kashmir globally.

"I have decided to send these parliamentarians for fighting the Kashmir cause in different parts of the world. These special envoys have the strength of the people of Pakistan, prayers from the Kashmiri people across the Line of Control, mandate of Parliament and support from the government," the Dunya News quoted Prime Minister Sharif as saying.

Earlier, Pakistan had raised the Kashmir issue in the United Nations after violence broke out in the valley over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani by the security forces.

Then, Pakistan's Permanent Resident to the UN Maleeha Lodi had called Wani's elimination as "extra-judicial" and described him as a "Kashmiri leader".

Since then, Pakistan has been using its diplomatic platforms to apprise other nations about the unrest.