PESHAWAR, Aug 15: All Jammu Kashmir Muslim Conference on Wednesday opposed the grant of the most favoured nation status to India, saying it will be detrimental to the Kashmir cause.

AJKMC, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president and former AJK government adviser Ahsan Khan told reporters at Peshawar Press Club that a strong Pakistan was necessary for solution to the longstanding Kashmir issue.

He said only a strong government in the country could take bold steps for the freedom of Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Accompanied by AJKMC Peshawar district president Mohammad Sohail, Mr Mohsin said Pakistan’s government had declared India a favoured nation for mutual trade to the agony of Kashmiris fighting India for freedom.

“We consider Pakistan and Kashmir as two integral parts of a body but the government and the opposition are damaging Kashmir cause by adopting wrong policies,” he said.

The AJKMC provincial president said his party had launched ‘Istehkam-i-Pakistan Week’ from Aug 14 to Aug 23 to help people understand that a stable Pakistan is necessary for the cause of Kashmir.

He said Kashmir freedom movement began in Neelabat after Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan shouted slogan against the Indian occupation of the region.

Mr Mohsin said the government’s wrong policies had led to great uncertainty in the country and had forced people to think that the government was not sincere to them.

“Kashmiris love Pakistan and its people and always wanted their land to be part of Pakistan. They will never allow any compromise on it,” he said.

The AJKMC leader said Kashmiris expected nothing good from the PPP-led Pakistani government.

He said if India was not ready to accept the rights of Kashmiris, then why the PPP government was giving it the MFN status.

Mr Mohsin also criticised PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for establishing his party’s chapter in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and said the move violated the philosophy of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah as in the region, he himself introduced Muslim Conference as a political party.