Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif reiterated on Monday that Pakistan’s armed forces would respond with full force if India tried to carry out any surgical strikes inside Pakistan.
Winding up a debate on a motion by Sehar Kamran regarding the situation arising out of the continuing Indian violations of the Line of Control (LoC) and ceasefire on the Working Boundary (WB), the minister said that if India carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan, a befitting response would follow.
He said that India had also claimed to carry out surgical strikes in the recent past but these claims were found to be baseless and false.
The minister said that the Kashmiri indigenous freedom struggle, India’s internal political compulsion, and avoiding composite dialogue were three major reasons because of which India was indulging in unprovoked firing along the LoC and WB.
Asif said that India was making failed attempts to link the Kashmiri freedom movement with cross border infiltration and terrorism. He said India had also levelled such baseless allegation against Pakistan in 1988.
However, the defence minister said that Pakistan would continue its political, diplomatic, and moral support to Kashmiris in their struggle for self-determination.
Khwaja Asif claimed that India had carried out 330 ceasefire violations till December – 290 along the LoC and 40 along the WB – because of which 45 civilians had been killed and 138 injured.
These violations were also reported to United Nations Military Observer Group for investigations.
Asif added that the ministry of foreign affairs had also raised the issue through Pakistani diplomats.
Earlier, Sehar Kamran said that since assuming office, Prime Minister Modi had adopted an aggressive policy against Pakistan. She said that UN observers should take serious notice of the Indian violations.
