Border skirmishes: Don’t construe our patience as weakness, Nawaz tells India

Says unprovoked Indian firing threat to international peace

BAGH/ AJK:

Amidst unabated ceasefire violations by Indian troops and war rhetoric in New Delhi reaching a crescendo, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif warned on Wednesday that “our patience should not be construed as our weakness”. He cautioned that Indian belligerence was a threat to regional and international peace.

“Unprovoked firing by Indian troops on civilian population along the Line of Control and working boundary claimed the lives of innocent people. We have not forgotten them [victims], they live in our hearts,” the premier said while addressing a gathering after inaugurating a slew of development projects in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“Desire for peace is our strength – and this is why Pakistan has continuously been informing the United Nations about ceasefire violations by Indian forces,” he added. “The firing from across the LoC has shaken up the conscience of the international community.”



Relations between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India are at the lowest ebb as a result of ongoing border skirmishes between the two forces.  Last week, at least 11 civilians – among them eight Pakistanis – were killed in exchange of fire. This was the deadliest day in terms of casualties since the two neighbours had agreed to a landmark ceasefire accord in 2003.

Earlier this month, a scheduled meeting between the national security advisers of the two countries was called off after New Delhi objected to an invite to Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders for a meeting ahead of the NSA talks. Premier Nawaz said Pakistan would continue to raise its voice against human rights violations and atrocities by Indian forces on the Kashmiri people at all international forums. “We will continue to support the Kashmiris’ inalienable right to self-determination because Kashmir runs in our blood.

He said Pakistan was playing an effective role against terrorism and would continue its efforts till the elimination of this scourge from its soil. “Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan Agency is achieving successes and will continue till all objectives are achieved,” he added. “It is our mission to win the war against terrorism and give the ‘gift of peace’ to the world.”



Talking about the Karachi operation, he said incidents of kidnapping for ransom, target killing and extortion have receded to a negligible level and assured that street crime would also be controlled. He held out an assurance that the Karachi operation would continue till the restoration of peace in the country’s commercial nerve-centre.

The prime minister – who was on a day-long visit to Bagh – earlier inaugurated 42 projects, worth Rs2.70 billion dealing with health, education and basic infrastructure that would benefit a population of over three million in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He promised a modern cardiac centre for Bagh of the same standard as those in major cities of Pakistan.

Addressing a gathering at the newly inaugurated Sports Complex, the prime minister said he was keen to see widespread development across AJK. He promised the pace of development in AJK would further speed up and a string of schools, colleges, healthcare units and roads would spring up across the beautiful valleys and hills. The prime minister particularly appreciated the high literacy rate in AJK and said his government was committed to increasing it further.

He said the Oct 8, 2005 catastrophic earthquake had caused widespread devastation, but it had also offered an opportunity to rebuild in a better way. He said Pakistan had no experience of coping with such calamities, but with courage and commitment, the Pakistani nation with the help of its armed forces and the international community rose to the challenge.

The prime minister recalled his government undertook the building of the first motorway from Lahore to Islamabad, with a vision to link the country with the Central Asian Republics. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will immensely benefit from the project,” he added. He said work was also under way for importing natural gas from Turkmenistan, under the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project. “The issue of power shortage is also being addressed,” he said and expressed the hope it would end within the tenure of his government.

Earlier AJK President Sardar Yaqoob and Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed warmly received Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the helipad.


Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2015.