Waiting for the day Kashmir joins Pakistan: Sharif

Muzaffarabad (Pakistan), July 22 (IANS) "We are waiting for the day (when) Kashmir becomes (a part of) Pakistan," Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Friday.

Sharif was addressing a public gathering on the occasion of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's win in the "Azad Jammu and Kashmir" assembly election on Thursday.

In his first public address following an open heart surgery earlier this year, Sharif urged Kashmiris "not to forget those in (Indian) held Kashmir who are sacrificing their lives for freedom".

The PML-N is set to form the next government in Pakistani Kashmir, whose official name is "Azad Jammu and Kashmir".

New Delhi accuses Islamabad of arming and training militants fighting to secede Jammu and Kashmir from India. Pakistan says it only provides moral and diplomatic backing to the separatist campaign.