Need to counter propaganda against Islam, Pakistan: Faisal

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat on Saturday stressed need to effectively counter propaganda against Islam and Pakistan in the West.

Talking to journalists about his recent official tour of United States, the minister said that the West was blaming Islam and Pakistan for their inbuilt shortcomings.

The minister said that there were flaws in the security system of the western countries and they were unable to preempt major activities of terrorism.

Faisal said that incidents like 9/11 and 7/7 occurred because US and Britain could not foresee what was going to happen there.

He said it was unfair to blame Islam and Pakistan for the incidents happening in the west.

Faisal Saleh Hayat said that like his official tour to Britain in the March last year, he focused on highlighting Pakistan government's efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue and attract foreign investment for Azad Jammu and Kashmir in the fields of hydro power, tourism and mineral development.

The minister said that he also interacted with Pakistani and Kashmiri community living in New York, Washington and Los Angeles.

Faisal said that an important side of his visit was his discussions with American think tanks like Institute of Multi Track Diplomacy, Library of Congress's Research Wing and RAND Corporation.

These think tanks, he said were engaged in research on South Asia including Kashmir and their recommendations are given importance by the US government.

To a question, the minister said that the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas was spending huge funds in Northern Areas and only this year's ADP for Northern Areas amounted to Rs 3.5 billion. Besides, ECNEC had approved a number of other projects amounting to billions for Northern Areas.

He said that AJK Council was spending huge funds for development in Northern Areas.