US lawmaker slams Sharif for praising Wani in his UN address

Washington, September 29

An influential American lawmaker on Thursday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for using the UN platform last week to praise a "militant".

"Disappointed to see the Pakistan PM use the UN to praise a militant group that uses violence to promote its cause," Congressman Ted Poe said in a tweet.

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In his address to the UN General Assembly on September 21, Sharif described Hizbul commander Burhan Wani a "young leader".

Poe is Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Terrorism, Non-proliferation, and Trade last week introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to designate Pakistan as a State sponsor of terrorism.

Co-sponsored by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, the bill has been sent to the House Foreign Affairs Committee for necessary action.

Motivated by his bill, Indian-Americans have launched an online 'We the People' petition on the White House website urging the Obama administration to designate Pakistan a State Sponsor of Terrorism.

By late Wednesday night more than 265,000 people had signed the petition, making it the most popular active petition on the White House website.

As per the guidelines of the We the People petition, the Obama administration responds within 60 days after the petitions is signed by a minimum of 100,000 people.

The petition created by one RG , the person who decided to identify with this initial, on September 21 had reached the 100,000 signatures in less than a week. In addition to Indian American groups, several other communities, including Balochs, Afghans, those from Gilgit-Baltistan, Sindhi and other Americans too have been sending emails and campaigning on the social media to encourage people to sign the petition. —PTI