Islamabad

At the first Overseas Pakistanis Convention held in Islamabad on Tuesday, Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir reignited the Kashmir rhetoric, calling the region Pakistan’s “jugular vein” and urging the diaspora to carry forward the country’s narrative.

“Our stance is very clear, it was our jugular vein, it will be our jugular vein, and we will not forget it. We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle,” Gen Munir declared during his address to the gathering, which included Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, senior ministers, and members of the Pakistani diaspora.

He also called on overseas Pakistanis to educate their children about the country's founding principles, stating that their forefathers believed Hindus and Muslims “were different in every possible aspect of life.”

India, in response to repeated references to Kashmir by Pakistani leadership, has consistently maintained that the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh “was, is and shall forever” remain an integral part of India.

Bilateral relations between the two nations have remained tense, particularly since August 5, 2019, when India revoked Article 370 of the Constitution, ending Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and reorganising it into two Union Territories.

In the same address, the powerful general urged the diaspora to preserve the values and vision for which Pakistan was created and share its story with their children.

"You have to tell Pakistan's story to your children so that they don’t forget that our forefathers thought we were different from Hindus in every possible aspect of life," he said, evoking the two-nation theory propagated by Pakistan's founder M A Jinnah.

"Our religions are different, our customs are different, our traditions are different, our thoughts are different, our ambitions are different. That was the foundation of the two-nation theory that was laid there. We are two nations, we are not one nation," he added.

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The general tried to present the case of a country that had a great past and a promising future.

“No matter where you live, remember - your roots lie in a high civilisation, noble ideology, and proud identity,” he said. “We have never bowed down before adversity, and we never will.”

(With PTI inputs)