Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that his government will hold a referendum seeking the opinion of Kashmiris if they wanted to stay with Pakistan or exist as an independent nation. Addressing a rally, Khan said that the people of Kashmir have fought wars for ‘liberation’ for over a century and thus ‘deserved to decide their own fate’.

Speaking at a rally in Tarar Khal in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) Khan said that his government will conduct a referendum for ‘Kashmiris’ to decide that ‘they want to join Pakistan’. “Then we will conduct a second referendum and ask them to choose if they want to remain with Pakistan or be independent,” he said.

“I will tell the world that Pakistan stands with its Kashmiri brethren in their struggle for independence,” Khan was quoted as saying by ARY News. “I am giving a message to Yasin Malik to remain patient and steadfast as victory is near,” he further said in an attempt to stir emotions around Kashmiri separatists.

Pakistan’s lost diplomatic battle over Kashmir

During the rally ahead of the scheduled 2021 elections in PoK, Khan said that his government is committed to raising the Kashmir issue on global platforms and will continue to do so in the days to come. 

The Pakistan Tehrik e Insaaf (PTI) government has lost several diplomatic wars over Kashmir in the recent past. Pakistan’s attempts to internationalise the Kashmir matter at world forums since August 5, 2019, when India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by abrogating Article 370, have received a muted response from the world community as well as from China, often referred to as Islamabad’s all-weather ally