Rebuffing India: Pakistan can’t be intimidated, says Nisar

Says Islamabad will continue to support Kashmiris

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the Indian allegations and threats in the wake of Sunday’s attack on an Indian military base in Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK), the country’s top security czar on Tuesday said Pakistan will not be intimidated by such moves.

“Indian leadership’s practice of levelling baseless allegations against Pakistan and avoiding meaningful dialogues is main hurdle in way of regional peace,” Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said while talking to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, who had called on him.

“Pakistan cannot be cowered down by Indian threats and will not step back from its moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people,” Nisar was quoted as saying.

Nisar’s meeting with the AJK premier comes at a time when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is meeting world leaders in New York in an effort to shed light on Indian atrocities in the disputed valley.

Over 80 people have been killed and thousands injured in a spell of violence that was sparked in the IOK on July 8 after the killing of a popular separatist leader, Burhan Wani.



During the meeting, the interior minister and the AJK premier discussed Indian state oppression and human rights violations in the occupied Kashmir. According to Interior Ministry spokesman, Nisar said the just struggle of Kashmiri people could not be suppressed by state repression by India.

Nisar said grave human rights violations in the IOK and disrespect to United Nations (UN) resolutions on Kashmir should be a matter of concern not only for the UN itself but also for those “who claim themselves champions of democratic norms.”

Nisar meets Shahbaz

Separately, the Interior Minister Nisar also met Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore to discuss matters of national security including implementation of the National Action Plan and the situation emerging after the Uri attack.

“The two leaders discussed the accusations which India has levelled against Pakistan after attack on its military in the IOK. The strategy to deal with the Indian government’s propaganda and to devise an appropriate response to it was discussed in the meeting. The implementation of National Action Plan was also discussed,” an official said.

He said Punjab government may send in next few days to the Interior Ministry a summary, seeking Rangers’ deployment to maintain law and order situation in Muharram. Rangers will assist police during processions of Muharram in different cities of Punjab.

The CM Office confirmed the meeting but didn’t share any details.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2016.