Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said Indians “believe in Akhand Bharat” while claiming that the country’s Hindus would prefer to remain in Pakistan rather than move to India.
Speaking at an Independence Day gathering on August 14, Zardari said Pakistanis and Indians hold different views, while asserting that Hindus in Pakistan are free to practise their religion. We have a 4% Hindu population in Pakistan. “The Indians believe in Akhand Bharat. But we are Muslims. They are not. But we are Muslims of the mindset that tolerates. They are as free as anywhere else. They would rather be with us than India,” claims Pakistan President Zardari. “We do not want war; we want peace.
In his Independence Day message, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad wanted peace but would not allow that position to be interpreted as weakness. But the desire for peace should not be taken as weakness,” he said. Referring to last year’s four-day conflict with India, Sharif said Pakistan remained committed to protecting its national interests, including its rights over water resources. He also said the country would continue working as a responsible nation and as a stabilising force for regional and global peace. Sharif accused India of “unilaterally and illegally suspending” the Indus Waters Treaty.
