ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan, while addressing a joint sitting of the parliament on Thursday, announced release of the captured Indian pilot today (Friday) as a peace gesture and a first step towards de-escalation of the ongoing tension between the two countries. “We are going to release the Indian pilot tomorrow as a goodwill gesture and gesture of peace,” Imran Khan said towards the end of his address.
Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan was captured by the Pakistan’s ground forces after his MiG-21 was shot down by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on crossing the Line of Control (LoC) on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, while offering an olive branch to India, said Pakistan is a peace-loving country.
“Our desire for de-escalation and peace should not be misconstrued as our weakness,” he said, and warned that any escalation on part of India will force Pakistan to retaliate in self-defence.
The prime minister also pointed out there were threats that there would be missile attack on Wednesday night and our forces were fully prepared to retaliate but it was defused. He urged the international community to play its due role to contain further escalation between Pakistan and India.
The prime minister said he tried to contact Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday evening because escalation was not in the interest of any of the countries. “The foreign minister also contacted other world leaders on the current situation,” he said.
The prime minister pointed out that the armed forces are battle-hardened and they are fully prepared to respond to any aggression. He said the entire Pakistani nation is united in the face of external threat and also commended other political parties for showing unity at this critical juncture.
Imran Khan said strain in relations between Pakistan and India was due to unresolved Kashmir dispute, and reiterated that India needs retrospection as to why a 19-year-old becomes a suicide bomber. He said an indigenous movement is going on in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) and India is committing oppression to stifle Kashmiris' struggle for right to self-determination. He said the entire populace of IHK has turned against India due to its oppressive tactics.
The prime minister believed that there should be a debate within India to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and to end war mongering. He said it is unfortunate that Indian media is also adding fuel to the fire by creating war hysteria. He appreciated Pakistani media for demonstrating responsibility in the current tensions between Pakistan and India.
The prime minister once again stated that Pakistan had nothing to gain from Pulwama incident, especially when the Saudi crown prince was in Pakistan on official visit.
Imran Khan recalled his earlier offer of investigations into the Pulwama incident if India provided any actionable evidence. He said Pakistan's National Action Plan does not give any space to terror activities.
The prime minister regretted that the Indian side resorted to war mongering. Giving a reference to history, he said the last Mughal king decided to accept the slavery of the British, while Tipu Sultan decided to fight for freedom till his last breath. “Our hero is Tipu Sultan,” he said, adding that Pakistan wants peace, not slavery.
Imran Khan said Pakistan on Thursday received a dossier from India, which should have been shared immediately after the Pulwama incident. He said Pakistan understands that India is pursuing the path of tension out of political compulsions.
Referring to the response of Pakistan following Indian airspace violation, the prime minister said it was only aimed at showing Pakistan's capability and will to defend the motherland. “We did not hit any target and our actions avoided collateral damage and civilian causalities,” he said.
The prime minister said that despite his government's multiple overtures of peace, the response from New Delhi had not been encouraging.
"We realised that it was because of upcoming elections in India and we decided to wait until the polls in India were over before making another offer for talks. We also apprehended that they (India) would do something before elections," he said.
The prime minister said he was informed at around 3:30am about Indian act of aggression. “I talked to Army Chief and Air Chief and discussed how we should respond. As a responsible state, we did not retaliate immediately to avoid escalation,” he said.
The premier said on the next day Pakistan took action to show India that Pakistan has capability and there were no casualties. “But when our fighter planes were returning, then they were challenged, and in chase when they entered our territory, they were shot down,” the premier said.
Stressing the importance of dialogue, Imran Khan said the world's most powerful country, the United States, is also holding dialogue with Afghan Taliban and Pakistan is facilitating these talks. “India should also come to the dialogue table and resolve issues through talks,” he said.
The premier said some Indians are terming the recent attacks in Kashmir as Islamic radicalism. “If you remember, most suicide attacks were carried out by Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka,” he reminded.
The prime minister recalled his offer of taking two steps forward for the sake of peace, if India takes one. He also referred to Pakistan's initiative to open Kartarpur Corridor aimed at lowering tensions. He regretted that the message emanating from the other side on this initiative is not encouraging.
He said the countries are ruined because of miscalculation. “War is not a solution. If India takes any action, we will have to retaliate," he asserted.
Stating that the current situation is because of Kashmir, the premier said, "At one point, Kashmiri leaders had not wanted separation, but because of Indian brutalities, today all they demand is independence."
The premier questioned, "How long will Pakistan be blamed for everything in Kashmir? And asked to take action without any proof?"
Meanwhile, despite Imran Khan’s another offer of peace, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in a different mood and asked Indians to "stand as a wall".
In an apparent reference to India's air strikes in Pakistan, Modi said that a "pilot project", which was a "practice" just got over, and the "real project" was yet to happen. He was addressing the scientists at the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Awards at an event in Delhi, Indian media reported.
"You are the people who spend life in laboratories. You have a tradition of first doing a pilot project. Later it is scaled up. So recently a pilot project was over. Now the real one has to be done. Earlier one was a practice," Modi said.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif while addressing joint sitting of the Parliament gave a categorical message to Modi that the whole Pakistani nation was united against any aggression.
Shahbaz Sharif said that only one message should go to India from the Parliament that the Pakistani nation is united. The opposition leader assured complete cooperation and support from the opposition parties while leaving behind all the political differences in the present situation. He said Pakistan would not tolerate any non-sense from the eastern border and Pakistani forces were ready to deliver befitting response in case of any aggression.
Shahbaz rejected the Indian allegations that Pakistan was behind Pulwama attack, saying that Pakistan and its people themselves have been victim of terrorism, losing 70,000 lives in war against terror.
He said India could not suppress the just struggle of Kashmiris to achieve their birth right to self-determination. However, he regretted that the world community has been acting silent spectator to plight of the struggling Kashmiris.
Observing that the Indian foreign minister had been invited to address the OIC conference in Dubai, the opposition leader said the Pakistan government should have asked the OIC to condemn Indian atrocities in IHK. He said that Pakistan should announce to stay away from the OIC conference till the organisers withdraw invitation given to the Indian foreign minister to attend the conference.
The PPP leader and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf commended the armed forces for giving swift and befitting response to the Indian aggression.
“Our armed forces are always ready to meet any misadventure,” he said, adding that Pakistan was a peace-loving country, but if any war was imposed on it, the nation and armed force very well know how to defend the motherland.
Opposition Leader in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq said Pakistan should forcefully raise the Kashmir issue at all the international forums besides unmasking the maltreatment being meted out to the minorities including Muslims in India. “India want to change ratio of majority and minority in Kashmir, while its treatment with minorities in India is also not hidden from the international community,” he said.
He recalled that Quaid-e-Azam had stated Pakistan would wanted to live like good neighbours with India but he regretted that India in the last over 70 years never accepted existence of Pakistan as an independent country.
The AML chief Sheikh Rashid said Pakistan was talking in language of peace, but he questioned whether India also desires peace. “We should remember that the current Indian government represents extremist Hindus,” he said.
Sheikh Rashid pointed out that India was against development of the Gwadar port while peace process going to take place in Afghanistan was also not acceptable to them. The JI chief Sirajul Haq said Kashmir was bone of contention between Pakistan and India. “Peace in the region without solution of Kashmir issue will remain a dream,” he said.
Sirajul Haq also commended the armed forces for their befitting response to aggression of the Indian air forces hitting down their two aircraft which crossed the LoC.