Economically-strong Pakistan can ensure Kashmir freedom: PM.

MUZAFFARABAD -- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday urged the nation and political leadership of the country to make efforts to make Pakistan economically and politically stable in order to free Kashmir from the Indian yoke.

Addressing a special session of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly (AJKL) on the occasion of the Kashmir Solidarity Day, the prime minister said the country's economic challenges were enormous and called for shunning all political differences in the national interest.

'We will have to become an economic power for the freedom of Kashmiris,' the prime minister told the AJK lawmakers. 'As Pakistanis, we must shun political differences and work together to secure the legitimate rights of the Kashmiri people,' he added.

The prime minister said that Pakistan's financial challenges were serious. Referring to the ongoing review of the national economy by a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation, Shehbaz said that the lender was looking into every subsidy.

'The IMF is looking into each book of the ministries of finance and commerce,' Prime Minister Shehbaz said. 'Everyone will have to come together to deal with the difficult situation. If Kashmiris are to achieve freedom, Pakistan will have to become an economic power.'

'Kashmiris are rightly looking towards Pakistan and Pakistan has to repay this debt and fulfil its responsibility. If we shun inconsistency in our words and actions, we can reach our destination. 'When a society moves with unity, its goals are achieved.'

The prime minister squashed rumours about delaying the UN-promised plebiscite in Kashmir for 20 years. 'There is no truth in what is being said about postponing the referendum. There can't be a bigger conspiracy than this, no politician or no military man can think of that, consultation is a separate thing.'

The prime minister said it was regrettable that divisions were apparent in society, but in Muzaffarabad, AJK and in Pakistan, all the political parties, their leadership and the assembly members were in unison, which reflected the national unity that certainly perturbed India.

For the last 75 years, Shehbaz said, the blood of innocent Kashmiris was spilled mercilessly In IIOJK. He also referred to a gory incident in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in which a child was seen sitting on the chest of his slain grandfather with melancholic look.

'The whole world witnessed the heart-wrenching spectacle,'...