By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday denounced the “provocative remarks” made by India’s defence minister, who said he was ready to cross the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the disputed Kashmir region, and urged India to “exercise utmost caution”.
Rajnath Singh, speaking at a war memorial in Ladakh on Tuesday, said India was a peace-loving nation but would not hesitate to cross the LoC, the de facto border between the nuclear-armed neighbours, to protect its interests.
“If we are provoked and if the need arises, we will cross the LoC,” Singh said, according to The Times of India newspaper.
Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said in a statement that Singh’s comments were a “threat to regional peace and stability” and reflected India’s “belligerent rhetoric”.
She said India’s political and military leaders should stop making “jingoistic statements” about Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, which India claims as part of its territory.
“India’s belligerent rhetoric contributes to destabilising the strategic environment in South Asia,” Baloch said. “The Indian leadership is reminded that Pakistan is fully capable of defending itself against any aggression,” Baloch said.
She added that India should respect the UN Security Council resolutions that call for a plebiscite to determine the fate of Kashmir, which is claimed by both countries in full but ruled in part by each.
“The practice of dragging Pakistan into India’s populist public discourse, with a view to stoking hyper-nationalism and reaping electoral gains, needs to end,” she said.
Tensions between the two countries have been high since India revoked the semi-autonomous status of its part of Kashmir in 2019 and imposed a security crackdown that sparked protests and anger in the Muslim-majority region.
In February this year, however, the two sides agreed to restore a ceasefire along the LoC after several years of frequent violations that killed dozens of civilians and soldiers on both sides.
The agreement was seen as a rare sign of cooperation between the arch-rivals, who have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.
In February this year, the two sides agreed to revive a 2003 ceasefire arrangement at the LoC after several years of frequent violations that killed dozens of civilians and soldiers on both sides and address the “core issues” that could undermine peace and stability.
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