Former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar on Saturday said that there was no division or crisis in the ruling party — Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N).
"There is a difference of opinion within the party and nothing more," he remarked while addressing an event in Kallar Syedan. "And differences of opinion are the essence of democracy."
This was the second time, during the day, that the senior PML-N leader hinted at the party's unity while alluding to internal conflicts which have plagued the party of late.
During an earlier address in Murree, Nisar had said that he along with the former prime minister and PML-N president Nawaz Sharif had laid the founding stone of the party.
Responding to a question about Pak-US ties, the former interior minister said the country's parliament has given a strong message the US.
"In a show of unity, the parliament gave a strong message to the US — talk to us with respect — and the message resonated well with the recipient," Nisar said, adding that the recent operation to recover a US-Canadian family was not the reason of the improved and more stable relations between the two countries.
He stressed that it is the government’s job to also stay united on its resolve in the future too.
The former interior minister also expressed his opinion of Pakistan's relations with its eastern neighbour.
"I don't like the fact that Pakistan is cosying up to the Modi-government," Nisar opined. "It will be foolish to expect anything good from Modi, whose agenda is based on anti-Muslim sentiments."
He said that Modi openly expressed his unity with the Myanmar government — responsible for Rohingya Muslims' genocide.
"Can anything good be expected from such a man," Nisar said, adding that Pakistan should not fight with any country but it is important for the nation to stand united in the face of internal and external threats.
Nisar, in response to a question about the recent attack on a journalist Ahmed Noorani, strongly condemned the incident.
"It was an inhumane incident and an attack on the freedom of opinion," he said, adding that he was one of the first few people who registered a strong protest against the attack.
"The attackers fail to understand that these voices only resurface, they aren’t suppressed, through these tactics," Nisar said.
