Handover of Abhinandan to India was a surrender: Defence Minister

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif termed the handing over of captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to India as a “surrender,” ARY News reported on Saturday.

Pakistan freed and handed over Abhinandan to India on 1 March 2019, two days after he was captured, when his fighter jet was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force during New Dehli’s aggression against Pakistan.

Speaking during a session of the National Assembly, Khawaja Asif stated that the return of Abhinandan was a blow to national dignity by the then Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

“We captured an enemy pilot and surrendered within 24 hours. We were ashamed then, and we remain ashamed today,” he said.

The defence minister further stated that the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other terrorist groups operating in Pakistan are “proxies of India” and are fighting a war on behalf of New Delhi.

“Anyone who shows sympathy for terrorists is an enemy of Pakistan,” he declared, adding that over the past two years, Pakistan has lost more than 700 soldiers to terrorist attacks.

He said several districts of the province are still under the threat of terrorism, and emphasized that while political problems must be resolved politically. However, if India is behind those problems, can we ignore it, Khawaja Asif remarked. “India is our eternal enemy whether in Balochistan or elsewhere”.

Khawaja Asif also criticized the civil bureaucracy for refusing to be appointed in Balochistan, saying that that while not a single soldier has ever requested a transfer from difficult postings such as Siachen to easier stations, the entire bureaucracy is refusing to go to Balochistan.

“Just as we won the war against India, we will also win the war against terrorism,” he vowed.