Major General Asif Ghafoor, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), on Saturday took a dig at Indian Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat’s comments that he “follows” his Pakistani counterpart Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, saying that it would be “even better if he [Rawat] follows Gen Bajwa’s vision for regional peace, stability and progress”.
Gen Ghafoor shared on Twitter a video clip of Rawat’s interview, in which the Indian army chief is asked about his “views” on Gen Bajwa.
Indian COAS says that he follows Pakistan Army Chief.
Even better would be if he follows General Bajwa’s vision for regional peace, stability and progress. For that India has to unfollow enmity with Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/P6KmdeafR9— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) February 23, 2019
“I follow him very well. I follow him in whatever he says,” replies Gen Rawat. “I keep taking up feedback on him. I follow where he goes. I know where he visits […] I do follow him […] and he is the chief of the Pakistan Army so I have to follow him.”
“Indian COAS says that he follows Pakistan Army Chief. Even better would be if he follows General Bajwa’s vision for regional peace, stability and progress,” said the ISPR DG in his tweet.
“For that India has to unfollow enmity with Pakistan,” he added, using wordplay with the social media term ‘unfollow’ that refers to unsubscribing from an account.
A day earlier, the ISPR DG held a press conference in Rawalpindi, during which he reiterated Prime Minister Imran Khan’s proposal of talks to Delhi.
Pakistan and India’s relations have been tense since the Pulwama attack on February 14, with the latter blaming the former of being complicit in the attack — a charge Islamabad has denied from the get-go.
New Delhi also announced that it would launch a diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan in the international community.