World can perceive insincerity of Khan's UNGA address: Baloch leader Mehran Marri

Baloch leader Mehran Marri on Saturday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan over his recent admittance of the country having had cultivated radical factions in the 1980s, saying that the world can perceive the insincerity of such admittance aimed at changing the country's image at global stage.

"This is the first time that Pakistan's puppet Prime Minister (Imran Khan) accepted, on an international forum like the (United Nations) security council, that it harboured and trained terrorists in the 80s and 90s and now it is sorry for what it did. I think everyone can see through that statement. They are just saying this to get the funds from the US in the begging bowl," Marri said.

Khan, in his address, had admitted to Pakistan's role in training jihadists during the late 1980s and 1990s and sustaining contacts with them.

"Khan tried to portray that his country was a champion of Islam. By reciting a few verses, he tried to gain the support of the Islamic world. But I don't think that is the case. Everyone knows the reality of Pakistan and its military leadership and its puppet government," he said.

Marri deemed Khan's speech as another failed attempt by the country to drum up global support over the Kashmir issue.

"It is funny to see that the Pakist military and its operatives are so anxious about the Kashmir issue that they are operating as an NGO, running across the planet, trying to lobby countries, (and obviously countries are ignoring them) to talk about the Kashmir issue," Marri said.

"Their incompetence is so visible in the fact that last Friday, they missed the deadline to pass... gather support for UN resolution on Kashmir. Obviously they did not have the numbers. But to miss the deadline seems like a high school homework that they missed. Incompompetance is so visible in this banana republic," he added.

Pakistan has repeatedly been snubbed on the international platforms and countries across the world alike on the Kashmir issue. India has maintained that the abrogation of Article 370 of the constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir is its internal matter -- a stance which has been supported by several countries, including the SAARC nations.

( With inputs from ANI )