ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Defence on Monday condemned the provocative and aggressive statement of the Indian Army chief, where he openly boasted about crossing the Line of Control (LoC) for launching military operations against Pakistan.
A meeting of the committee was held here at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed. Among others, the meeting was also attended by Senators Lieutenant General (r) Abdul Qayyum, Farhatullah Babar, Seher Kamran, Colonel (r) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Ilyas Bilour and Hidayatullah, Defence secretary and Establishment Division additional secretary.
The committee passed a resolution and termed the war-like proclamation by the Indian Army chief a part of a disturbing pattern of statements which have been reinforced by concrete actions on the ground, including the highest number of violations across the LoC during 2017 and cross-border terrorism by India against Pakistan.
The resolution said that it was no coincidence that the Indian Army chief’s statement came soon after the infamous tweet of the United States (US) President Donald Trump against Pakistan and was timed with the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to India. It further said that the Modi-Trump-Netanyahu alliance had formed an ‘anti-Muslim axis’ based on bias, bigotry and racism.
The resolution further stated, “The Senate Defence Committee urges the international community to uphold the principles of international law, the United Nations Charter and norms of civilised behaviour, and reject this ‘anti-Muslim axis’. The parliament and people of Pakistan stand by the valiant armed forces of Pakistan to give a befitting response to all forms of aggression, use of force and outside interference, a resolve reaffirmed during the recent visit of the Senate Defence Committee to Chakothi on the Line of Control and North Waziristan.”
It further noted that, “The Senate Defence Committee urges the government to take up this matter at all international forums and expose the malicious intent and aggressive role of India against Pakistan, while also condemning the atrocities in Indian Occupied Kashmir, and calls for the early resolution of Kashmir issue according to the UN resolutions,” the resolution noted.
The committee also discussed the matter raised by Senator Farhatullah Babar regarding the appointment of an ex-cadre officer as the head of the Military Land and Cantonment Services department, due to which the regular cadre officers of the said service group never given an opportunity to head the said department. The committee was informed that the summary for amendment in rules was not moved by the Establishment Division but by the Ministry of Defence.
The committee invoked Rule 187 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Senate and directed the Ministry of Defence and the Establishment Division to share the summary moved by the defence ministry to the Prime Minister Office in October 2014, in the original form before making a final decision on the matter.
The committee chairperson, however, noted that the rulings of the Supreme Court on the administrative matters had more weight and should be upheld by all the departments concerned. The committee was also given a detailed briefing on Indian Army’s aggressive military actions and violations of ceasefire along LoC and the Working Boundary. It was told that a total of 3,929 ceasefire violations were committed while the number of causalities had reached 1,428 since 2003.
In addition, the committee was also given details of the incident where a military truck was targeted in July 2017, and targeting of an administrative party in Nezapir Sector in August 2017.
