ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has announced that the information and broadcasting ministry will establish a Kashmir media cell in coordination with the central media department of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

Talking to the media at the PTI office here on Monday, Dr Awan said the information ministry had taken technical support from the PTI media cell earlier too.

“The social media cell of the PTI has cooperated with the government in establishing the official social media cell under the information ministry,” she said.

The special assistant was accompanied by PTI information secretary Ahmed Jawad and former information secretary Umar Cheema, who is currently heading a think tank of the party.

She said that since the government was led by the PTI, it was the responsibility of the party to extend required support to government institutions. Dr Awan said that the aim of setting up of the Kashmir media cell was to collect and disseminate authentic information about ground realities in occupied Kashmir.

“We do not have free flow of information from occupied Kashmir due to clampdown and curfew by the Modi government. Therefore, it is essential for the government to collect all available information at the Kashmir media cell in the information ministry and provide it to the Foreign Office, local media as well the members of civil society,” she said.

She said Prime Minister Imran Khan had successfully made Kashmir an international issue, but it was the responsibility of relevant government departments to carry it forward.

“If we stay quiet now, the world will never know about the gross human rights violations being committed by the extremist Modi government,” she added.

In reply to a question about the special honour given to Indian PM Narendra Modi by the UAE, Dr Awan said that there had been gaps in Pakistan’s foreign relations during the previous governments.

“Those gaps allowed India to make inroads and we are making counter moves; now it will take time to reach the original position,” she said.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2019