Civil-military huddle: Pakistan seeks to defuse tension with India

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan’s civil and military leadership sought to defuse ongoing tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary with India on Friday but warned that any attempt to challenge the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty would be responded with full force.

“War is not an option.  It is a shared responsibility of the leadership of both countries to immediately defuse the situation,” said an official statement issued after a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) which was convened to discuss the ongoing border skirmishes between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif presided over the meeting where attendees included the services chiefs as well as key federal ministers. The high-level huddle reviewed the situation arising from ‘unprovoked’ firing by Indian security forces across the LoC and Working Boundary.

At least 13 Pakistani civilians have been killed and several injured since the start of the skirmishes earlier this week. India claimed that nine of its civilians have also been killed by firing of Pakistani troops.

The border clashes are one of the worst since the two neighbours agreed to a landmark ceasefire deal in 2003.

India on Thursday upped the ante when it cautioned that Pakistan would have to pay a ‘heavy price’ if it did not stop ‘unprovoked’ shelling along the LoC and Working Boundary. The NSC regretted the ‘irresponsible’ statements made at the political level in India.

The civil and military leadership also noted with deep concern that continuing ceasefire violations by Indian forces had led to the loss of precious lives and injuries to innocent people, including our soldiers.

“Sadly, the unprovoked violations of ceasefire by the Indian security forces occurred in total disregard of the auspicious and festive occasion of Eidul Azha,” the statement added.

It stated that the Pakistan government had pursued a policy of peaceful relations with all its neighbours. Initiation of peace dialogue of the 1990s, and more recently, participation of Premier Nawaz Sharif in Narendra Modi’s oath-taking ceremony were a manifestation of Pakistan’s sincere desire to constructively engage India to establish durable peace in the region.

The committee expressed its disappointment that the sincerity demonstrated by Pakistan had not been reciprocated. “Abrupt cancellation of the foreign secretary-level talks by India and refusal to resume the dialogue process are a setback to our efforts to establish good neighbourly relations. The present situation on the LoC and working boundary is a further blow to these efforts.”

The NSC noted that these developments had not only disappointed the people in Pakistan and India but the international community too shared this disappointment.

The NSC expressed hope that both countries would respect the ceasefire agreement of 2003 and maintain tranquility on the LoC and the working boundary, without indulging in a blame-game and point-scoring.

However, the NSC made it clear that Pakistan’s earnest desire for normalising bilateral relations and defusing the situation on the LoC should not be seen as a sign of weakness.  “It is, in fact, a sign of maturity and sincerity.”

It expressed the resolve that any attempt to challenge Pakistan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty will be responded with full force. The armed forces assured the NSC that they are fully prepared to deal with any adversity on the borders.

Any further escalation will only complicate the environment for meaningful discussion on the Kashmir issue and adversely affect the broader objective of regional cooperation.

Briefing reporters on the meeting, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz would write a letter to the UN secretary general about the ceasefire violations by India. “The UN secretary general would also be reminded of the UN resolutions on Kashmir,” the minister added.

Nisar also informed reporters that the government had decided to send envoys to five permanent members of the UN Security Council and brief them about Pakistan’s position regarding tensions with India. He said Pakistan wanted peaceful relations with all its neighbours including India, but added it won’t accept ‘hegemony.’

FO Briefing

At her weekly news briefing, foreign ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam accused India of initiating the ceasefire violations along the LoC and working boundary.

“We are simply responding to a situation that has been created on the Line of Control and the Working Boundary. We did not start violation of the ceasefire, we have not escalated the situation and our response has been strong but measured,” she added.

She also insisted that Pakistani forces were exercising ‘great care’ to avoid civilian casualties to all extents possible.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2014.