By Umbreen Turk
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in a video message on Thursday, warned India against mistaking Pakistan’s wish to remain peaceful as a sign of weakness.
Commenting on the UN Security Council meeting on Kashmir raised by China on Pakistan’s request, he stated that issue was raised at the right moment.
“It is deeply concerning that missiles are being deployed in the occupied valley. “Moreover, missile tests being conducted since August illustrate India’s true intentions which can harm regional peace. There is a pattern emerging in India’s actions. “Keeping these developments in mind, we request the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to conduct independent verification so that the facts may be presented before the Security Council.
“Extreme measures are being taken to suppress the rights of the Kashmiris. There is a communication blackout, the media cannot travel to the valley and even diplomats are barred.
“Take the Babri Masjid verdict. These things are raising feelings of being second-class citizens among the 200 million Muslims living in India.” Commenting on the passage of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill in India, he said that West Bengal state’s Chief Minister MamtaBanarjee herself has denounced the legislation. “Slowly, there are protests [against the Citizenship amendment Bill] emerging in every city and every state.”
India’s opposition has vehemently opposed the bill and considers it contrary to their constitution, he added.
“However, in order to take the eyes of these protests, we anticipate that India is planning something.”
Further, signals picked up by our intelligence point towards an “extraordinary amount of movement and deployment at the Line of Control”.
“All these things lead us to believe that India’s intentions are not peaceful.
“On behalf of the people of Pakistan, I would like to make it clear to Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi that we are a peaceful nation. But do not make the mistake of forgetting the events of February 27.” Our army is ready to give you a befitting reply if you use an excuse to attack, he underlined.
Director General Inter Services Public Relations, Major General AsifGhafoor on Thursday reiterated that Pakistan Armed Forces shall befittingly respond to any Indian misadventure or aggression.
Major General AsifGhafoor took to Twitter and wrote, “Provocative statements and preparations for escalation along LOC by Indian COAS appear to be an effort as usual to divert world attention from wide spread protests in India against CAB.
