— PPP, PML-N call for boycotting OIC meeting in protest against Indian FM Swaraj’s participation as ‘guest of honour’
ISLAMABAD: The opposition leaders on Tuesday demanded a joint parliamentary session in response to India’s blatant violation of the Line of Control (LoC).
During the National Assembly (NA) session, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Khursheed Shah demanded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to call a joint parliamentary session.
The PPP leader said that Pakistan is in a state of war and the parliament should sit together to decide the future course of action. We need to stand united in the face of our enemies as India wishes to capitalise on our internal differences, he added.
He recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan had asserted in his TV address last week that Pakistan won’t hesitate to retaliate if India initiates aggression. We should not even think as the opposition is ready to defend the border and we are prepared to sacrifice our lives, he vowed.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former defence minister Khawaja Asif endorsed Shah’s demand for convening the joint session and said that the session should be convened.
CALLS FOR BOYCOTTING OIC MEETING:
Asif also opposed India’s inclusion in the emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Kashmir which is scheduled to be held in Jeddah.
The PML-N leader also urged all political parties to get united to express solidarity with the armed forces.
“Our country, our sovereignty, and our integrity are being threatened,” Asif said.
“It is not the time for political point-scoring,” he said, adding, “We are standing behind our armed forces like an iron wall.”
Former National Assembly speaker and PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq asked the government to impose a ban on all imports from India.
Besides Asif and Sadiq, PPP leader and former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar strongly criticised the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for inviting Swaraj as the “guest of honour”.
“We have to demonstrate to the world that the entire nation is united for its defense and politicians could stand together,” she said.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) MNA Asad Mehmood also reiterated the opposition’s demand for boycotting the OIC and said that it is wrong to invite the Indian foreign minister and Pakistan should speak to OIC and boycott the meeting.
GOVT CONCURS WITH OPP’S DEMANDS:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) politician and former speaker Syed Fakhar Imam Shah conceded with the opposition’s demand of a joint parliamentary session and asserted that Pakistan is at a crossroads where it has to decide if it wants to live with honor or not.
“Today, the future of my country is at stake. Today, the people of Pakistan have to decide to either live with honour, or live otherwise. And I am sure my country will decide to live with honour,” Imam stressed.
“Now the time has come for Pakistan’s survival. This is nobody else’s war. This is Pakistan’s [war],” he said.
The PTI leader noted with regret that India was being led by the war-mongering Narendra Modi.
“India has had some great leaders. But unfortunately, Modi is their leader today,” he lamented, adding that the Hindutva’s mindset was exactly what Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah liberated the Muslims from when he founded Pakistan.
Earlier as the session began, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said, “India just like the past resorted to a cowardly act in the darkness of night but Pakistan Air Force gave a befitting response and forced the Indian aircraft to retreat.”
Pakistan is a peace loving country but our desire for peace should not misconstrue as our weakness, the minister of state for parliamentary affairs said.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, an Indian military aircraft violated the LoC as they “intruded” from the Muzaffarabad sector and were forced to return owing to the timely response of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted.
Indian officials later claimed that nearly a dozen Mirage jets had bombed training camps of the banned militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot sector of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, killing over 300 militants.