Kakar cuts short Davos visit, summons NSC moot today

Decision comes as Pakistan responds to Tehran's deadly airspace violation on Tuesday night

ISLAMABAD:

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar summoned a National Security Committee (NSC) meeting on Friday (today) after announcing that he would be cutting short his visit to Davos for attending the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) amid cross-border intrusions and heightened regional tension between Pakistan and Iran.

A briefing will be given on the latest situation between Iran and Pakistan in the NSC meeting under the chairmanship of the caretaker prime minister. Kakar will arrive in Pakistan on Thursday night from Davos.

The meeting will be attended by cabinet members of the interim government, chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and all three services chiefs.

Apart from this, the current security situation of the country will be considered during the meeting at 2pm.

Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, leading the Pakistan delegation to the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, will also be returning shortly.

The decision comes as Pakistan carried out “highly coordinated”, “precision strikes” on terrorist hideouts in Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan province.

The retaliation came over a day after Tehran carried out missile and drone strikes in Pakistan's Panjgur. The strikes were launched the day Kakar met with the Iranian foreign minister on the sidelines of the WEF in Davos, Switzerland.

Foreign Minister Jilani also received a telephone call from the Foreign Minister of Iran, Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

The foreign minister firmly underscored that the attack conducted by Iran inside the Pakistani territory, on Jan 16, was not only a serious breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty but was also an egregious violation of international law and the spirit of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran.

Expressing Pakistan’s unreserved condemnation of the attack, the foreign minister added that the incident has caused serious damage to the bilateral ties between Pakistan and Iran. The foreign minister added that Pakistan reserved the right to respond to this provocative act.

Further, Iranian Foreign Minister Abdollahian said on the sidelines of WEF, "None of the nationals of the friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan were targeted by Iranian missiles and drones.

"The so-called Jaish al-Adl group, which is an Iranian terrorist group, was targeted."

Abdollahian also said he spoke to his Pakistani counterpart and assured him that Iran “respects” Pakistan’s sovereignty. However, he added that Iran would not hesitate to act if its national security and interests came under threat.