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Pakistan to respond forcefully if national security threatened: PM ISLAMABAD, : Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Wednesday said Pakistan had no aggressive designs against any country, however it would forcefully respond if its national security was in danger.

Addressing a specially convened joint-sitting of the parliament to discuss the situation in the Indian Occupied Kashmir and its aggressive posture, the Prime Minister said Pakistan was a peace-loving country and desired peace in the entire region.

He said Pakistan wanted a peaceful resolution of the lingering Kashmir dispute, however that desire was being made by a dignified and respectable nation. "We will not take any threat lightly and will not hesitate for a moment in responding," the prime minister said.

He said if India desired joint efforts against poverty than it must not rely merely on rhetoric, but should take practical steps and pointed to the contradictory approach by India in their words and deeds.

He, however, said that the objective could not be achieved by passing through "fields of explosives and blood". The Prime Minister said without the resolution of the Kashmir dispute, there could not be any peace between Pakistan and India and in the entire region.

He said the supreme sacrifice rendered by Kashmiri freedom fighter Burhan Wani highlighted the struggle of the Kashmiris and brought it to a decisive juncture. "Distorting faces of Kashmiris and firing bullet shots at them cannot reverse this movement," the prime minister said.

He said, "India cannot deny the inalienable right of the Kashmiris, which it had pledged seven decades ago." The Prime Minister called upon the international community in resolving the lingering dispute.

"Kashmir is smoldering like a volcano and needs urgent attention.

" The Prime Minister recalled his speech at the United Nations this year and said he had demanded a number of steps for the improvement of situation in the Indian held Kashmir that included withdrawal of India's occupational forces from Kashmir and creation of a conducive environment for the holding of plebiscite.

The Prime Minister shared with the Parliamentarians a number of measures taken by his government that included sending delegations of Pakistani parliamentarians to important world capitals to apprise them of the serious situation.

He said Pakistan fully launched a diplomatic offensive that included his letters to the Permanent-5 of UN Security Council and other human right organizations to highlight the critical situation.

He said the Pakistani diplomats were especially tasked to apprise their host countries about the gross human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir. The Prime Minister said today the entire world was facing the heat of the situation along the Line of Control and it was time that effective measures were taken by the global community to pressurise India to let the Kashmiris exercise their right to self-determination.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan would continue to extend its political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris demand for right to self determination. He said India was making a mockery of international norms by declaring Kashmir as its integral part.

"We have always desired resolution of the issue through talks, however India has never responded positively." The Prime Minister said the joint sitting of the parliament was aimed at discussing the policy on Kashmir and to receive feedback from the parliamentarians."