Pakistan reminds India of February 2019-like response

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Saturday de­nounced the provoca­tive remarks made by the Indian defence min­ister during a recent televised interview.

In a statement, For­eign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan stands resolute in its intent and ability to safeguard its sovereignty against any act of aggression, as dem­onstrated by its robust response to India’s reck­less incursion in Febru­ary 2019, which laid bare India’s hollow claims of military superiority.

The spokesperson said India’s ruling dispensa­tion habitually resorts to hateful rhetoric to fuel hyper-nationalistic senti­ments, unapologetically exploiting such discourse for electoral gains.

Such myopic and ir­responsible behaviour not only undermines regional peace but also impedes the prospects of constructive engage­ment in the long term.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan has al­ways demonstrated its commitment to peace in the region. However, our desire for peace should not be miscon­strued. History attests to Pakistan’s firm re­solve and ability to pro­tect and defend itself.

The spokesperson re­called that Pakistan has provided irrefutable evidence, elucidating India’s campaign of ex­tra judicial and transnational assassina­tions on Pakistani soil. She said India’s assertion of its preparedness to extra-ju­dicially execute more civilians, arbitrari­ly pronounced as “terrorists”, inside Pa­kistan constitutes a clear admission of culpability. She urged the internation­al community to hold India accountable for its heinous and illegal actions.

“If any militant from a neighbouring country tries to disturb India or car­ry out terrorist activities here, he will be given a fitting reply. If he escapes to Pakistan we will go to Pakistan and kill him there,” Singh said in an interview to Indian TV news network News18 on Friday. Singh’s remarks followed in­vestigative report published in British media on Thursday which said at least 20 individuals had been murdered in Pakistan since 2020 at the behest of Indian intelligence operatives. The re­port said it had seen evidence provid­ed by Pakistani security agencies, and noted that Indian officers confirmed the new policy of assassinating ene­mies and dissidents on foreign soil. In­dia’s Ministry of External Affairs had denied the allegations.__The Nation