‘Pakistan still not out of woods’

MULTAN/ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday said Pakistan still was not out of the woods, as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi might make another foolhardy attempt before going to the polls.

Talking to journalists in Islamabad and then at the Multan Tea House, he said India wanted to isolate Pakistan at the diplomatic level, and was sparing no effort to undermine it at the world forums.

His statement came a day after Pakistan lodged a protest with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for making India part of its review group monitoring Pakistan’s progress on its 27-point action plan.

Finance Minister Asad Umar has written a letter to its President Marshall Billingslea, saying that Indian involvement would undermine the peer evaluation process in the backdrop of New Delhi’s hostility towards Pakistan.

Qureshi said India was habituated to blaming Islamabad without evidence whenever it faced any untoward situation. However, he said Pakistan will survive all nefarious designs of India and remain on the global map until the end of the world.

"If you raise your hand for friendship then we will hold it; if you show us fist for war, then we will break it," he added. The foreign minister said India and Bangladesh were holding the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) hostage. He said the nation’s spirit was exactly like it was in 1965 and the change had started coming.

“Intentions do matter but the reward is given by Allah Almighty. Pakistan will remain until the end of the world,” he added. He said the government faced a plethora of challenges soon after coming into power.

“Pakistan was on the brink of bankruptcy and the FATF had put it in the grey list. In addition, the so-called war on terror in Afghanistan had destabalised the region,” he said, adding that peace in the neighbouring country would benefit the entire region.

He said terrorists used militant hideouts in Afghanistan to launch attacks in Pakistan, but Afghanistan always blamed Pakistan for its problems. He said tough time was not over yet and China, like in the past, was standing firmly behind Pakistan.

Qureshi said Pakistan had signed CPEC-II agreement with China, adding that the contract had gone onto the next phase. He said the CPEC project was in no danger. He said Pakistan wanted peace in Afghanistan and PM Imran always said that the Afghan issue could be resolved through negotiation.

He said improving ties with the US was in Pakistan's favour and President Donald Trump had also acknowledged Pak government's peace efforts. Meanwhile, the Foreign Office said the Indian government and the media continue to spread disinformation to mislead the international community and their people for domestic political gains adding that linking Pakistan’s efforts against extremism to the Pulwama attack was part of the Indian agenda.

In a press release, the Foreign Office said the Indian government and the media continue to spread disinformation in an attempt to cover up their failures and resultant embarrassment. “Pakistan, on the other hand, responded with maturity, responsibility and resolve in all domains including political, information and response to Indian act of military aggression,” it stated.

The statement further said, “Pakistan has categorically rejected false Indian allegations about the Pulwama attack, which has indigenous origin, including the use of local explosives and vehicle, miles away from Line of Control. This explains it all.”

“Notwithstanding all this, the prime minister of Pakistan offered cooperation in investigations and asked for actionable evidence from India, in response to which a "dossier" was received on February 28 2019, a day after the second Indian violation of Pakistan’s airspace. The "dossier" is being examined and an update on it will be shared in due course,” said the statement.

The statement said air intrusion and attempted strike near Balakot (KP) through Azad Jammu & Kashmir by the Indian Air Force (IAF) was in complete violation of relevant provisions of the UN Charter and international law, as it constituted unlawful use of force against the territory of Pakistan.

“Pakistan, exercising its right of reprisal, acted on February 27, 2019, from within Pakistani airspace displaying our capability, capacity and responsible attitude, by taking 6 strikes (4 targets) on non-civilian and non-military targets with clear intent not to cause any damage to life or infrastructure,” the press release added.

The statement further said on February 27, the IAF with belligerent intentions once again violated Pakistan’s air space. Pakistan in exercise of its right to self-defence under the UN Charter exercised the legitimate use of force while staying within its air space, against two Indian aircraft that had intruded into Pakistani air space. As a consequence, both Indian aircraft were successfully shot down by the Pakistan Air Force. The Indian claims of shooting down a Pakistani F16 aircraft are completely baseless, meant only to satisfy Indian domestic audience, but in the process they also exposed their lies one after another.

It further explained that in contrast to Pakistan’s sincere efforts to pacify the situation, India's belligerent tone still continues motivated by domestic political considerations and electoral calculations. Prime Minister Imran Khan returned the Indian pilot as a gesture of peace, which was welcomed and appreciated by the international community, with the sole exception of the Indian government.

It urged the international community to stop atrocities and heinous human rights violations at the hands of Indian government as documented in the OHCHR Report of June 2018 such as brutalities, rape, blinding of women, children and youth through use of pellet guns, and forced exodus for demographic re-configuration, to suppress the indigenous movement in the IHK, on the pretext of "counter-terrorism" measures.

“Pakistan stands in full support — moral, political, diplomatic — as well as in solidarity with the people of Indian Held Kashmir in their legitimate struggle for their right to self-determination and desires peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir, as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions,” the Foreign Office said.

“Regarding Indian allegations of terrorism, the whole world recognises Pakistan’s successful fight against terrorism. Having tackled the direct threat of terrorism, the efforts to root out extremism have been underway since 2014 through the National Action Plan. The linking of ongoing efforts in this regard to Pulwama is part of the Indian agenda for domestic political gains,” it added.