Pakistan army ‘warns India against any misadventure’

The Pakistan army on Friday said that if there is an attempt by India to undertake any “misadventure,” then its response will be “even stronger than that of Feb.27,” as tensions escalate between the two neighbours following New Delhi’s revocation of special status for Jammu and Kashmir.

“Should there be an attempt by Indian army to undertake any misadventure, Pakistan’s response shall be even stronger than that of Feb.27, 2019,” said Pakistan armed forces’ media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Asif Ghafoor on Twitter.

A day after he announced the discontinuation of the Samjhauta Express, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid on Friday said the Thar Express train service to India will be suspended as well.

“As long as I am railways minister, Samjhauta Express and Thar Express will not operate. That’s it,” he declared at a press conference in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, about 8,000 supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami party marched towards the Indian embassy in Islamabad to denounce New Delhi’s actions against Kashmir.

Hundreds of activists from Pakistan political parties on Friday held peaceful rallies across the country against the decision by India to downgrade Kashmir’s status from a state to a federal territory.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi arrived in Beijing on Friday to hold consultations with the Chinese leadership over India’s decision to revoke Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

On arrival at the Beijing airport, Qureshi was welcomed by Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi and senior officials of the Foreign Ministry.

Speaking to the Pakistani media before leaving for China, the minister said that “India is intent on disrupting the regional peace with its unconstitutional measures. China is not only a friend to Pakistan but also an important country of the region.”

Qureshi told reporters that he will take the Chinese leadership in confidence over the situation. “I will apprise the Chinese leaders of the unconstitutional measures taken up by the Indian government in occupied Kashmir. I will also brief them of the gross human rights violations in the occupied valley.”

The military spokesman said that thousands of Indian troops have failed to suppress just struggle of brave Kashmiris for decades, adding that the current surge won’t succeed either.

In another tweet, Ghafoor responded as saying: “Usual blatant lies. An attempt to carve out causes belli for a misadventure to divert world attention from precarious situation & atrocities in IOJ&K [Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir]. While IOJ&K faces media blackout, AJ&K is open to foreign media & UNMOGIP to visit place of their own choosing. Can you do same?”

The ISPR dismissed a statement made by the Indian Chinar corps commander — in which he accused Pakistan of being “involved in disrupting the peace in Kashmir Valley” — as “usual blatant lies.”

Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, during an interaction with reporters, was asked if he thought Pakistan would “increase their attempts to try and spoil the law and order situation in the Valley.”

“Pakistan army and Pakistan have always been involved in disrupting the peace in Kashmir Valley. So I would like to believe that they are good enough to do it and recently there’s been statements which have come up in which they are openly threatening about certain incidents in the Valley,” Dhillon had responded. “Notwithstanding we will take care of all of them, let anyone come and try and disrupt the peace in Valley, we will have him eliminated.”

Ghafoor, in a tweet, termed the statement “an attempt to carve out casus belli for a misadventure to divert world attention from precarious situation & atrocities in IOJ&K.”

“Casus belli” is a Latin expression meaning “an act or event that provokes or is used to justify war.”

Ghafoor added that while Indian occupied Kashmir was facing a media blackout, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) was open to the foreign media and the United Nations Military Observers group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) could visit places of their choice in AJK. “Can you do the same?” he asked Lt Gen Dhillon.

Tariq Butt / Agencies