-Says blaming Pakistan and Muslims for virus spread shows India’s military saffronization
-Pakistan Army will not claim Internal Security allowance during COVID-19 duties
-More Chinese doctors arrive to help ‘Iron Brother’
RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Army on Friday said India’s attempt to “link coronavirus with Muslims and Pakistan has failed badly” and has been criticised by the whole world.
Addressing the media, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar added that New Delhi has been promoting Hindutva and saffron terrorism.
“The fire of hatred which was first ignited in Indian-Occupied Kashmir has now spread across India,” he said. “Saffronisation of Indian military and polity is a sad spectre that the world can ill-afford under the present circumstances.”
General Babar further said the Indian army and its leadership unsuccessfully tried to push the false narrative. “Recent comments made by the Indian Army against Pakistan shows India’s growing frustration and demoralisation due to their failures,” he said.
Maj Gen Iftikhar added that the whole world is facing a crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic and the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres had also called for a global cease-fire. However, despite the crisis, India is adamant on promoting their RSS agenda in the region. Referring to ceasefire violations, the military spokesperson said: “India has violated the cease-fire agreement 850 times since the beginning of this year, deliberately targeting the civilian population along the Line of Control (LoC)”.
Speaking of ceasefire violations in just the three months since the first case of coronavirus was reported, the DG ISPR said that India has violated the ceasefire agreement 456 times in which a child was martyred and 31 people had been injured.
General Babar assured that the resources of the Pakistan Army are being fully used to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The civil-military leadership is fighting the pandemic with effective strategy due to which the actual number of cases is less than the projections,” he said.
However, he warned that the coronavirus cases might increase in the coming two weeks due to which we have to be collectively and individually careful.
“A smart lockdown, testing, tracing and quarantining will drive our efforts against Covid-19. We will have a targeted lockdown only for virus hotspots and clusters.”
The military spokesperson further said that the Army personnel will not take the internal security allowance and the money would be used in the battle against the pandemic. He said that reserve personnel of the Army Medical Corps have also been asked to report for active duty.
Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar on Friday said that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Ganeral Qamar Javed Bajwa has directed to implement steps taken to contain coronavirus with the help of civil institutions.
Addressing a press conference, the DG told that a conference was held under the supervision of army chief to discuss the situation caused by the deadly virus. The COAS has instructed to carry on the training of Pakistan Army officers and use all the resources to fight the epidemic, he stated.
Director general of military media wing told that Pakistan Army has decided not to take Internal Security Allowance in the wake of worsening situation due to coroanvirus. He also expressed his concerns that the spread of virus may speed up in coming 15 days. We have to take extreme care to prevent the outbreak of the pandemic, he appealed.
“A smart lockdown and testing, tracing and quarantining will drive our efforts against Covid-19. We will have a targeted lockdown only for virus hotspots and clusters,” he went on to say.
Major General Babar Iftikhar told that Indian forces have violated the ceasefire for 850 times so far with heavy weapons, targeting the civilians. Indian leadership, with the help of its media, had tried to malign Pakistan with false propaganda , he added.
ISPR DG said that India is promoting the ideology of Hindutva and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) by breaking the international laws. Doctors from China arrived in Pakistan to help the country — its ‘Iron Brother’ — in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the military’s media wing said Friday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the team was headed by Major General Huang Qingzhen and it arrived on two special aircraft.
“The Chinese doctors who have expertise in treating infectious diseases shall support Pakistan’s efforts in fighting against COVID-19 situation for the coming two months,” the ISPR added.
Chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), Gen Nadeem Raza, and senior military officials welcomed the team on arrival at Pakistan, the statement added.
“The Chinese support reaffirms that being ‘Iron Brothers’ and ‘All-Weather’ friends, Pakistan and China have always helped each other in the time of need,” the army’s media wing noted.–ISPR
