Dar calls ceasefire ‘ongoing’; Indian army says hostilities break has ‘no expiry date’

ISLAMABAD: As Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar Sunday said the ceasefire between Pakistan and India was a continuous operation and the directors general military operations (DGMOs) from both sides were regularly in contact with each other for de-escalation and demobilization, the Indian army said to the understanding reached between two military officials on cessation of hostilities has “no expiry date”.

Speaking to the ‘Naya Pakistan’ host Shehzad Iqbal, Dar said the DGMOs had discussed the situation on May 10, 12 and 14, and were scheduled to engage again on May 18. He was pretty sure that the DGMOs would have engaged again.

The foreign minister said his Indian counterpart Jaishankar had not officially intimated Pakistan prior to the military strikes.

He said India’s narrative was a total farce, as it failed to furnish the proof of Pahalgam ‘terrorist’ attack with Pakistan.

To a question, he said India’s claim of shooting down an F-16 fighter was outright a lie, as not a single F-16 was airborne.

“Our brave armed forces gave a measured and brutal response to India both in the air and on ground for which we are humbly thankful to Allah Almighty,” Dar said.

“Some countries warned us that India would ‘punch’ us in response to the Pahalgam incident. Our response was that if India dared to attack us, we will also land India a punch,” the foreign minister said.

“After May 7, many countries requested us to exercise restraint but the night of May 9 exacerbated our patience. We told a number of countries we were contact with that we have not so far responded to the Indian aggression. And they authenticated our claim that we had not targeted any of their military installations. We had committed to the international community that we won’t strike first,” Dar continued.

On Sunday, the Indian army said there was “no expiry date” to the understanding reached between the DGMOs on cessation of hostilities nearly a week back. The clarification came following reports that the arrangement between the two militaries on stopping the hostilities was ending on Sunday evening.

The DGMOs on May 12 decided to continue with the understanding of halting all military actions. The arrangement was originally reached for two days when the DGMOs held a conversation over the hotline on May 10. “As far as continuation of break in hostilities, as decided in DGMOs interaction of May 12 are concerned, there is no expiry date to it,” the Indian Army said in a brief clarification.

It had been widely speculated that Sunday could be the “deadline” for the Continued from page 1 ceasefire if DGMOs did not contact on that day or before.

Well-placed sources told The News/Jang here Sunday that the DGMOs could establish contact on Tuesday (tomorrow) if not required earlier.

The Indian army had maintained earlier in the day that it would pursue confidence-building measures to reduce the “alertness level” in line with the May 10 understanding – a reference to the ceasefire brokered by the US and other capitals.

Meanwhile, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, the foreign minister will undertake an official visit to China on Monday (today) amid the “evolving regional situation in the region in the aftermath of Pakistan-India military clashes.

Dar will undertake a two-day visit to Beijing from May 19 to May 21 on the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

“During the visit, Dar will hold in-depth discussions with Wang Yi on the evolving regional situation in South Asia and its implications for peace and stability,” said the statement issued by the spokesperson.

The two sides will also review the entire spectrum of Pakistan-China bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest. “The visit forms part of the ongoing high-level exchanges between Pakistan and China. It also underscores the two countries’ shared commitment to further strengthening the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership,” added the statement.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is set to arrive in China on May 20 to join the trilateral meeting.

During the recent escalation with India, China voiced its support for Pakistan, with Chinese ambassador reaffirming the “enduring and time-tested friendship between China and Pakistan”.

The ambassador described the relationship as one of “ironclad brothers” who always supported each other in challenging times.

In a related development, Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry Sunday warned India of long-term consequences if it attempted to block Pakistan’s water.

“I hope that time does not come, but it will be such actions that the world will see and the consequences of that we will fight for years and decades to come. Nobody dares stop water for Pakistan,” he said in an interview with Arab News.

“It is some madman who can think that he can stop water of 240 million plus people of this country,” he added.

Gen Sharif said Pakistan Army was a professional armed force that adhered to the commitments that they make and follow in letter and spirit the instructions of the political government and the commitments that they hold.

“As far as Pakistan Army is concerned, this ceasefire will hold easily and there have been confidence-building measures (CBMs) in communication between both the sides,” he added.

“If any violation of ceasefire occurs, our response is always there, but it is only directed at those posts and those positions from where the violations of the ceasefire happen. We never target the civilians. We never target any civil infrastructure,” Chaudhry said.

The Arab News while quoting reports said India had lost five fighter jets, but Pakistan’s prime minister announced earlier this week that there were six.

“I can confirm that the sixth aircraft is a Mirage 2000,” Chaudhry said, adding that the PAF jet fighters only targeted the aircraft and they could have taken out more, but restraint was exercised.

He said India’s policy on Kashmir and at the same time trying to internalize was not working.

“Till the time Indians don’t sit and talk about Kashmir and find a solution, the conflict potential is there,” he said.

Meanwhile, in an interview to a foreign television channels, General Sharif said the genesis of the stand-off between two countries was that India has been abetting and sponsoring state terrorism in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

“The adversary has been trying to hide behind the fake narrative of terrorism,” he said.

He said Pakistan does not believe in violence and is sensible nation with first choice of peace.

“Our diplomatic corps acted as a silent guy and engaged all in a very sensible way,” he said. “The United States as senior players have very good sense of resolve of Pakistani nation,” he said.

He said after the Pehalgam incident, India pointed the finger at Pakistan within 10 minutes.

“Instead of accepting Pakistan’s offer of investigations through an independent commission, India acted unilaterally as judge and attacker and launch an attack, martyring 40 innocent civilians.

He said Pakistan acted in a matured manner and gave a retribution which was brutal and swift so that the adversary calm down and face the reality.

“India attacked and their aircraft released their weapons; Pakistan Air Force jet fighter downed the adversary’s planes”, he said.

He said the adversary attempted to deter Pakistan without knowing that they could not deter the Pakistani nation and their armed forces.