ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday said the Pakistani nation was ready to respond to any Indian false flag operation.
Addressing media while flanked by Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan in Islamabad, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan held the right to respond to any aggression.
“India could stage a Pulwama-like drama once again. This is a long battle which we have to fight at every front. Kashmir desk is being established at every important embassy of Pakistan in the world and a Kashmir cell will be created at the Foreign Office as well to spread awareness on this issue,” he said.
He termed the UN Security Council meeting, held a day earlier, as encouraging. “It is such a major development that people cannot gauge it at the moment. The meeting was held despite India’s opposition to it.”
FM Qureshi said Pakistan had all the options available to contact any institution if and when need be. He warned that as soon as the curfew would be lifted in Kashmir, India could face a retaliation.
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Asif Ghafoor said occupied Kashmir had been turned into a prison. (On an average) One military official was present at every single door of the valley’s house, he added.
Kashmir was an atomic flashpoint and the world had to see how it could resolve this tardy issue, said the DG ISPR.
“Pakistan would never take any such step which could affect the Kashmir cause. However, the nation should have confidence, we will respond befittingly,” he said.
He said Pakistan Army was fully ready and capable to retaliate.
Asif Ghafoor warned that any Indian misadventure would meet the same fate as did on February 27.
The decades-old conflict of Kashmir has resulted in horrific wars and continuous border tensions between Pakistan and India. The issue has strained the bilateral relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours as it is at core of their foreign and security policies.
India’s brutal occupational forces have committed a plethora of inhuman grave felonies in the Himalayan valley, but Kashmiris’ resilience has throughout been remarkable.
The Indian government on August 5 repealed the special status given to the occupied Kashmir under the constitution’s Article 370 and Section 35 A, and bifurcated the region into two Union Territories – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. The arbitrary move is feared to spark unrest in the disputed territory.