Can’t remain indifferent to atrocities against Kashmiris: COAS

Visits LoC; asks troops to give befitting response to Indian aggression

RAWALPINDI: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday said Pakistan cannot remain indifferent to the barbaric treatment meted out to defenceless Kashmiris, including women and children.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army chief said this during his visit to the Line of Control (LoC) at Haji Pir Sector.

General Bajwa appreciated the operational preparedness and high morale of troops and said that Indian aggression and frustration is vented at the people of Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) and Pakistani villages along the LoC and Working Boundary, "but we must keep our response purely in military domain in accordance with our values".

He asked the military to give a befitting response to any Indian aggression.  "The violence perpetuated by Indian forces in IHK is state-sponsored terrorism by all definitions. This violence riles up passions on this side of the LoC as well as people of Pakistan cannot remain indifferent to the barbaric treatment meted out to defenceless Kashmiris, including women and children,” he said.

"The Kashmiris have a right to live without fear and repression. We will always stand by their rightful political struggle for the right of self-determination and recourse to basic human rights," he added.

Earlier on arrival, the COAS was received by Commander Rawalpindi Corps Lieutenant General Nadeem Raza and General Officer Commanding Murree. The COAS was briefed on the situation along the LoC, ceasefire violations and operational readiness of the formation.