ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned the Indian home minister’s reported statement threatening so-called “surgical strikes”, saying it will spare no effort in “resolutely thwarting any aggressive designs”.
“Pakistan condemns in strongest terms the irresponsible and provocative statement reportedly made by Indian home minister today threatening so-called “surgical strikes” in Pakistan,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said in a statement.
“While Pakistan is a peace-loving country, we will spare no effort in resolutely thwarting any aggressive designs,” he stressed.
The spokesperson recalled that Pakistan’s swift response to India’s Balakot misadventure in 2019, including the downing of Indian combat aircraft and capture of Indian Air Force pilot, fully demonstrated the will, capacity and preparedness of “our armed forces to deter Indian aggression”.
“Such statements also serve as smokescreens to divert world attention from India’s state-terrorism and systematic human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), and against Muslims and other minorities in India,” the spokesperson added.
He further said that Pakistan has repeatedly drawn the attention of the international community to India’s sinister designs of staging “false flag” operations to implicate Pakistan and Kashmiris.
