Stepping up Pakistan's diplomatic offensive on the Kashmir issue, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday nominated 22 parliamentarians as special envoys to be dispatched to world capitals to highlight the problem.
"I have decided to send these parliamentarians for fighting the Kashmir cause in different parts of the World. These special envoys have strength of the people of Pakistan, prayers from the Kashmiri people across the Line of Control, mandate of the Parliament and support from the government", Sharif said in a statement.
"I am standing behind these special envoys to ensure their toil for highlighting the Kashmir Cause resonates across the world so that I can shake the collective conscience of the international community during my address at the UN this September", he added.
"We will remind the United Nations its long-held promise of self-determination to the Kashmiri people," Sharif said.
The move by Sharif came against the backdrop of escalating war of words between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the continuing unrest in the Kashmir Valley that broke out on July 8 after Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces.
"The Prime Minister urged the special envoys to ensure their efforts for highlighting the Kashmir cause across the world so that he can shake the collective conscience of the international community during his address at the UN this September," Radio Pakistan reported.
"We will also make it clear to India that it was India that approached the UN several decades back on Kashmir dispute but now it is not fulfilling its promise," he added.
Sharif said the Kashmir problem is the most persistent failure of the UN and that the world body must establish its relevance.
