Pak, India using us to play politics: Former Baloch CM

Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif is using the issue of Kashmir+ to play politics and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is using the issue of Balochistan to do the same, said a former chief minister of Pakistan’s beleaguered province at an event in Karachi on Sunday.

“He [ Modi] has no interest in Balochistan+ or its people; his statements are just that: statements. Similarly, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is not interested in Kashmir+ or Kashmiris, either. Both the premiers are playing politics over dead bodies+ ,” said Akhtar Mengal of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) at the Karachi Press Club, according to Dawn.

Mengal was chief minister of Balochistan from February 1997 to June 1998. He returned to Pakistan in March 2013, ending his four-odd years of self-exile in Dubai.

Mengal characterised PM Modi’s recent strategic comments highlighting Pakistan’s oppression of the Baloch people+ as “just empty statements”. As for the Pakistan PM’s continual comments about Kashmir, he had this to say: “Kashmir seems to be nearer to Islamabad than Balochistan as the leaders and the media listen to and quickly react to grievances of the Kashmiris.”