Islamabad: Amid rising tensions with India over Kashmir, Pakistan army on Monday declared it is fully prepared to face any threat to the country’s security.
“The armed forces together with our resilient nation have surmounted every challenge and will thwart any sinister design against integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan,” Army Chief General Raheel Sharif said.
Gen. Sharif, while chairing at an army corps commanders conference, said the armed forces of Pakistan were “fully prepared to respond to entire spectrum of direct and indirect threats”.
The army chief’s comments came in the wake of statements emanating from India after the attack on Indian Uri military base in Kashmir.
“We are fully cognisant and closely watching latest happenings in the region and their impact on the security of Pakistan,” the general said.
According to the military’s media wing, the external and internal security situation and operational preparedness of the army were comprehensively reviewed by the conference held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
The foreign ministry said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, now in New York to address the UN General Assembly, writes to P5 countries’ leaders.
The prime minister has urges the leaders China, France, Russian Federation, UK and the USAof to call upon Indian to immediately “stop bloodshed in IOK [Indian-administered Kashmir] and implement relevant UNSC resolutions.”
The letters emphasise ‘the extremely negative implications of the dire situation in the IOK, on regional, as well as international peace and security.’
Nawaz Sharif has called upon the permanent members of the Security Council “to fulfil their responsibility with regard to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which is one of the oldest internationally recognised unresolved disputes on the agenda of the UN Security Council.”
“Despite the passage of more than 68 years since the adoption of multiple resolutions, the people of Jammu and Kashmir still await the implementation of these resolutions which promised them the right to self-determination to be exercised through the holding of a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices” the prime minister stressed in the letters.
The prime minister has pointed out that the non resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is a constant source of tension and instability in the region and a threat to international peace and security.
Nawaz Sharif’s senior aide Sartaj Aziz has rejected in a statement Indian claims of Pakistan’s involvement in Sunday’s attack on the military base in Kashmir as “baseless” and irresponsible.”
“It is a blatant attempt on India’s part to deflect attention from the fast deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation in Indian-held Kashmir,” Aziz said.
Aziz said that it was particularly deplorable that India chose to blame Pakistan for the incident before carrying out a formal investigation. “The claim is part of a pattern to mislead world opinion and cover up India’s reign of terror in IoK,” he said.
