LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has termed Simla agreement reached between India and Pakistan in 1972 a big mistake, saying it partially hurt the Kashmirls` freedom struggle.

The statement invited criticism from the PPP whose then chairman and prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his Indian counterpart Indra Gandhi had signed the pact.

The agreement had resulted in release of some 90,000 Pakistani soldiers imprisoned by India following the 1971 war fought between the two South Asian neigbours.

`The Simla agreement was a big mistake [on the part of Islamabad] as it dampened the spirit of the Kashmiris fighting for their freedom and hurt their movement though it never stopped in Kashmir,` Shahbaz told a conference on the India-held Kashmir here on Thursday.

He said young Kashmiri leader Burhan Wani further strengthened the movement through his martyrdom and now Kashmiris were raising pro-Pakistan slogans everywhere in the valley.

`Someone should teach the CM what foreign policy is. He can`t possibly think mimicking SZAB [Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto] makes him a statesman,` tweeted PPP chairperson Bilawal. He was responding to a tweet by a party leader, Murtaza Solangi, who took pains to explain the Simla pact.

`There is nothing wrong with Simla agreement. One should (first) read the agreement before cirticising it,` said Mr Solangi, and lamented the criticism by Mr Sharif.

`It is sad and unfortunate that on a day like this Shahbaz chooses to criticise Simla pact and by extension ZAB.

Using the platform of the Kashmir conference, Shahbaz criticised the agitation politics of the PTI and chided Imran Khan for `dividing` the nation at a time when blood was being shed in India-held Kashmir.