Pakistan will respond to any Indian misadventure: PM Imran after NSC meeting

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday chaired a meeting of the National Security Committee to hold consultations with the country’s top civil and military leadership over the sudden spike in tensions with India.

Pakistan will effectively respond to any type of aggression or provocation from India with its people’s support, Prime Minister Imran Khan said following the NSC meeting.

The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), the heads of all three armed forces, intelligence officials, and interior, and the director-general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The meeting was briefed subsequent to Indian aggression intensifying in Occupied Kashmir, as Indian premier Narendra Modi's attempt to use bogey of 'terrorism'  with use of cluster ammunition against civilians.

Earlier Sunday, chairing an emergency consultative meeting at the Foreign Office in Islamabad, Qureshi alleged that Indian aggression comes an 'attempt to disrupt the regional peace'.

“India having lost all moral authority in IOJ&K and sensing erosion of its belligerent stance at international level keeps resorting to illegal, undemocratic and inhuman measures that have resulted in huge loss of lives and property in IOJ&K,” the NSC said according to a PM Office statement.

The national security body observed that the recent build-up of forces and their brutal use against an unarmed population was adding fuel to fire.

The body strongly condemned such Indian strategy at the time when Pakistan and the international community were focused on resolving the Afghan conflict.

The recent Indian measures would increase the levels of violence and turn the area into a flashpoint and a destabilising factor in the midst of two strategically capable neighbouring countries, it added.

The meeting further noted that the more India was exposed internally and internationally in its machinations, the more there were chances that it might resort to desperate and risky options, including false flag operations.

“Pakistan remains ready to defend itself against any Indian misadventure or aggression and will continue to provide all-out diplomatic, moral and political support to the brave people of IOJ&K in their indigenous struggle to get justice and their right to self-determination in line with UNSC resolutions,” the meeting resolved.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan would always stand by Kashmiris and would not be deterred from its just stance based on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

He invited the attention of the world leaders and international bodies towards 'irresponsible', 'unilateral' and 'irrational' behaviour of the Indian leadership.

“India needs to ensure rights of the people, including those living in occupied territories and also to abide by its own commitments to UNSC,” he remarked.