'Any Indian misadventure in G-B, AJK will get full spectrum reply'

Pakistan on Thursday cautioned India against any “misadventure” in Gilgit-Baltistan or Azad Jammu Kashmir, saying any such move will invite “a full spectrum” response from the country.

The statement came from Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafiz Chaudhri at a weekly news briefing while responding to a question about the threats emanating from New Delhi.

The spokesperson said that the Indian leadership must not underestimate resolve of the Pakistani nation as well as the capacity, professionalism and the level of preparedness of our battle-hardened armed forces.

He said that the entire nation stands absolutely united against any ill designs of India.

“Our advice to India would be to peacefully resolve disputes, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, with its neighbours for lasting peace in South Asia,” the spokesperson stressed.

On the fake news and misreporting regarding the recent incident in Karachi by the Indian media, Chaudhri said that Pakistan took note of the “malicious and fabricated news reports and propaganda campaign in some sections of the Indian mainstream and social media, planting baseless stories about Pakistan”.

“Such attempts by the Indian media on the behest of the Pakistan-obsessed BJP-RSS regime are reflective of a particular, though familiar, mindset. Needless to say that the Indian media continues to hit new lows,” he said.

The Indian mainstream media and even verified social media accounts from the neighbouring country gave exaggerated and highly fabricated stories about the so-called civil war erupting in Karachi over the recent incident of the Sindh inspector general of police.

Many international observers were baffled by the Indian media’s reporting while Pakistani citizens mocked at the Indian journalists for spreading lies.

Hitting back, the spokesperson said that India cannot wash away the truth about its own gross and systematic human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and unabated anti-minorities policies and actions through peddling fake news and running its propaganda machinery overtime.

The spokesperson said that over 800 million people in India were considered poor, making it a country with the largest poor population in the world. He said that India needs to focus on socio-economic development of its people instead of blindly pursuing its dangerous strategic ambitions.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson strongly rebutted the certain reports suggesting that Saudi Arabia had voted against Pakistan at the ongoing meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is reviewing Islamabad’s case whether to keep it on the grey list.

“Responding to media queries regarding the role of Saudi Arabia in assessment of Pakistan’s FATF Action Plan, the spokesperson categorically rejected the story circulating in a segment of the media as false and baseless,” a statement issued here earlier by the Foreign Office stated.

“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong fraternal ties and the two countries have always cooperated with each other on all matters of bilateral, regional and international importance. Pakistan greatly values its relations with brotherly Saudi Arabia and firmly rejects such malicious propaganda,” the statement added.

The statement said that the FATF will announce its assessment of Pakistan’s progress on the action plan and the future course of action after conclusion of its plenary meeting on Friday.