India must change Kashmir policy before trade could begin, Chaudhry says

ISLAMABAD: The federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry said Saturday if the government had not heeded to the need of taking due steps with the onslaught of the global pandemic last year the country’s situation would be no different than that of India today, ARY News reported.

We took into consideration stepping up efforts in the health sector and due to the measures taken then, we still have things under control, federal minister Chaudhry said while talking exclusively in the ARY News program Aiteraz Hai.

He said of the neighboring country India, which sees the worst of pandemic-led health and monetary crises, among others, as it reports well over hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 cases daily, that our fight has never been with the people of India but only with the country’s extremist ideologies and policies against Kashmir and its minorities.

Chaudhry also responded to the tweet by the Prime Minister earlier this week about offering help to India in the time of its need amid the catastrophe it is torn by, that the tweet was on humanitarian grounds only.

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He said while it is beyond doubt that Indo-Pak trade resumption will be a game-changer for the region but it must not be misconstrued that we have forgotten the wounds suffered by Kashmiri brethren at the hands of India.

If the trade must transpire, India needs to amend its policies, Chaudhry said. It must ensure allay the concerns and pains conceded by Kashmiri people and its minorities, he added.