By Staff Reporter
RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s military top leadership on Friday said India was exploiting a deadly April attack in occupied Kashmir to deflect domestic issues and jeopardise a vital water-sharing treaty, as it reaffirmed its readiness to defend national sovereignty.
The country’s top general gathered at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi to review the geo-strategic environment, with particular focus on the Pakistan-India standoff and the broader regional security situation, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said.
“The Forum reaffirmed the unflinching resolve of the Pakistan Armed Forces to uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country against any aggression or misadventure.”
India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 attack in Pahalgam town, where gunmen killed 26 people in one of the deadliest assaults on civilians in nearly two decades. Indian police published notices naming three suspects and saying two were Pakistanis, but New Delhi has not offered any proof of the links, or shared any more details.
Pakistan denied involvement and labelled it a “false flag” operation.
Tensions escalated as India expelled Pakistani diplomats and nationals, closed a key border crossing and suspended the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which has governed the distribution of river waters between the two countries since 1960.
Pakistan retaliated and closed its air space for Indian airlines, suspended all trade including through third countries and halted special South Asian visas issued to Indian nationals. Islamabad will also exercise the right to hold all bilateral accords with India, including Simla Agreement, in abeyance until New Delhi desists from “fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan”
The agreement, signed on July 2, 1972, promotes bilateral dispute resolution and respect for the Line of Control [LoC], the de facto border dividing Kashmir between Pakistan and India since 1947.
The tit-for-tat announcements took relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who have fought three wars, to the lowest level in years.
The top generals “expressed grave concern over the intensification of Indian atrocities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), particularly in the aftermath of the recent Pahalgam incident, as well as the continued targeting of innocent civilians along the Line of Control (LoC) by Indian occupation forces”.
“The Forum noted, with serious concern, India’s consistent pattern of exploitation of crises to achieve political and military objectives,” the ISPR said. “They have been following a predictable template – whereby internal governance failures are externalised.”
“These incidents have often coincided with unilateral moves by India to alter the status quo, as seen in 2019 when India similarly exploited the Pulwama incident to unilaterally alter the status quo of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, through revocation of Article 370.”
The Pahalgam episode appears to be part of a deliberate strategy to divert Pakistan’s focus away from the western front, as well as ongoing national efforts for economic revival; the two fronts where Pakistan is decisively and sustainably gaining grounds, the ISPR said.
The generals expressed concern that India was now using the Pahalgam shootings to undermine the IWT and “usurp Pakistan’s legitimate and inalienable water rights.”
The generals expressed serious concern that India is now using the Pahalgam incident to undermine the Indus Waters Treaty, “seeking to usurp Pakistan’s legitimate and inalienable water rights”.
“This constitutes a dangerous attempt to weaponize water, threatening the livelihood and sustenance of over 240 million Pakistanis and escalating strategic instability in South Asia.”
The generals also “voiced deep alarm over credible evidence of direct Indian military and intelligence involvement in orchestrating terrorist activities inside Pakistan”.
“These state-sponsored actions are in blatant violation of international norms which are universally unacceptable,” the ISPR said.
While reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to peace, stability, and prosperity, the generals made clear that “any attempt to impose war will be responded to, surely and decisively and aspirations of people of Pakistan shall be respected at all costs”.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
