Let AJK elections happen first before deciding on refugee seats: Khawaja Asif

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told the National Assembly that refugee representation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir cannot be decided through street pressure or political protests, strongly defending their constitutional status.

“There are seats for refugees in Azad Kashmir,” he said, adding: “Kashmiri refugees crossed a line of blood.” He alleged that “foreign-funded organisations are blackmailing us today” and insisted, “Let Kashmir elections happen first, then we can decide about refugee seats.” He further underlined, “No rally or protest has the authority to abolish refugee seats.”

Calls for end to blame game in Parliament

Shifting focus to parliamentary conduct, he urged lawmakers to end political blame games. “We need to stop this cycle of allegations in the House,” he said, adding, “There should be no blame game inside Parliament; the dignity of this House must not be compromised.” He noted that members often ignore their own history when levelling accusations.

Pakistan’s diplomatic gains highlighted

On foreign policy, he said Pakistan had recently achieved “a major diplomatic success,” claiming the Iran–US agreement had strengthened the country’s global standing. “We may have differences, but we should stand united on positive developments,” he said.

He also pointed to global developments, saying, “Yesterday, Modi was congratulating the US President,” and claimed, “Pakistan defeated an enemy five times stronger,” crediting the prime minister and the army chief for “making the impossible possible.”

Afghanistan talks and security concerns

On Afghanistan, he said he personally visited the country twice with the DG ISI and recalled sustained engagement on terrorism issues. “Pakistan hosted Afghan refugees for 40 years,” he said, adding, “Yet our own soldiers are being martyred by those we hosted for decades.”

He claimed 4,317 Pakistanis had been martyred in the last three years, and said Afghanistan repeatedly failed to provide written guarantees despite Pakistan’s willingness to cooperate, even financially.

“We were ready to do everything, but they were not ready to give guarantees,” he said.

On regional security, he said, “Peace is being established everywhere in the world except on our land,” adding that Afghanistan remained the “source of terrorism” and questioning who would guarantee non-use of Afghan soil against Pakistan.

Call for opposition jirga and Balochistan unity

He challenged the opposition to form a jirga and engage directly with Afghanistan, saying Pakistan would support any credible guarantees on cross-border security.

On Balochistan, he stressed collective responsibility, saying insecurity in the province required unity and long-term political solutions acceptable to both Baloch and Pashtun communities.

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