Fully ready to thwart India’s designs: Pak Army

By News Desk

RAWALPINDI: Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Maj-Gen Babar Iftikhar on Thursday said the Pakistan armed forces were fully aware of Indian intentions and capability, and were completely ready to crush the enemy’s designs in any war domain.

Addressing a media briefing here, he congratulated the nation and the media workers on the 73rd Independence Day of Pakistan and said freedom was a great blessing and its worth could only be explained by a Kashmiri mother, who had lost her child at the hands of occupation forces in the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides the Kashmir situation, the ISPR chief shed light on the country’s overall security situation, Indian ceasefire (CFVs) violations at the Line of Control (LoC), Pak-Afghan border situation and other issues.

Maj-Gen Iftikhar said occupied Kashmir had been under history’s worst siege by the occupation forces for the last one year. India under a sinister design was committing the worst human rights abuses and genocide of the Kashmiri people.

Through its tyranny and reign of terror, India in fact wants to displace the Kashmiri Muslims, he added. The honour of women and children was not safe while the youth were being killed in so-called counter terrorism operations and buried in unmarked graves, he said, adding the Kashmiri leadership had been detained for the past many years.

He said the government of Pakistan had highlighted the Kashmir issue at all global forums which were now raising their voices against Indian aggression and oppression of Kashmiris. “Genocide Watch, international human rights bodies and global media -- despite strict military siege have highlighted the Indian armed forces’ brutalities unleashed on innocent Kashmiri people,” he added.

The ISPR chief said United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also emphasised the need to ensure fundamental human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Kashmir issue was debated by the United Nations Security Council thrice, which showed the need to resolve this dispute at the international level, he said.

As regards to the LoC situation, he said despite the appeal from the UN Secretary General for ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic, India had continued its cowardly acts of targeting peaceful civilian population along the LoC.

India, since the Covid-19 outbreak, had committed 1927 ceasefire violations (CFVs) and deliberately targeted the civilian population. He said: “Some 16 innocent Kashmiris were martyred during Indian ceasefire violations and 158 injured.

The DG ISPR said recently international media people visited the LoC and were given complete access to the civilian population and those affected due to the Indian CFVs. “They [themselves] had assessed the situation of the LoC, while on the contrary India had not given access to the international media and UN observers to know on ground situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

“Pakistan will ensure the protection of the Kashmiris along the LoC and has decided to build shelters inside the residences of the locals along the LoC. Around 1,000 shelters have been built the work on the rest is underway, he added.

In a question-answer session with the media at the end of his briefing the ISPR chief also spoke of Pakistan’s relations with Saudi Arabia, an area that has come under much public scrutiny after foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's recent push for Organisation of Islamic Council (OIC) to convene a session on Kashmir.

When asked to comment on the status of relations with Saudi Arabia and the upcoming visit to the kingdom by Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, the ISPR chief said Pakistan is proud of its relations with the “brotherly country”.

“These relations are historic, very important, have always been excellent and will remain so. There should be no doubt of this,” he said.

Maj-Gen Iftikhar added: "Nobody should doubt the centrality of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Muslim world. Our hearts beat with the people of Saudi Arabia. So there is no need to raise any questions on our relations with one another.”

He said Gen Bajwa's trip is a planned tour related to military-to-miltary engagements. “There is no need to read too much into it.”