ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said that Indian aggression after the February 14 Pulwama suicide attack in occupied Kashmir was unjustified.
Speaking at a ceremony here, the FM stated that Kashmiris living in the occupied valley have always defied Indian atrocities. He added that Pakistan would continue to support their just struggle for self-determination.
He said that national consensus is the need of the hour and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has taken the opposition into confidence regarding matters of national security.
“On February 28, after discussion with the prime minister, I wrote a letter inviting the parliamentary leadership of the country in the provincial and national assemblies. We have differences but we are united when it comes to Pakistan’s interest,” he added.
Qureshi also revealed that he had telephonic conversations with the leaders of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). “They have remained our opponents, but I have asked them to come forward for talks,” he added.
Tensions escalated dramatically between Pakistan and India on February 14 when a young man – a native of the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) – rammed an explosives-laden car into an Indian military convoy, killing at least 44 soldiers. FM Qureshi meets Pakistan’s top envoy in India amid Pulwama attack allegations India was quick to blame the state of Pakistan for the suicide bombing.
Prime Minister Imran offered every possible help in the investigation, but India turned down the offer and whipped up war hysteria. On February 26, the Indian Air Force (IAF) violated Pakistani airspace. The country’s top civil and military leadership declared the violation of airspace by Indian fighter jets “uncalled for aggression” and decided that the country would respond at a “time and place of its choosing”.
