FM Qureshi asks India to exercise restraint

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday said Pakistan was taking steps to end the hostility [in the wake of Kashmir situation], ARY News reported.

Qureshi has urged India to exercise restraint and do away with its war mongering and aggressive posturing.

Talking to media in Islamabad, Qureshi said people were in the grip of panic in occupied-Kashmir as Kashmiris are scared and they have shut down their businesses.

He was of the view that Hurriyat leaders were being expelled from their areas. He cited Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as saying the Indian barbarity wouldn’t change the ground facts.

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He said India was sending 10,000 more troops in the occupied-Kashmir. “Bharatiya Janata Party is taking uncalculated steps for its political gain.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said a wave of harassing and tormenting Kashmiris has set in and there are reports of Kashmiri people across the country being beaten, their properties set light and intimidated.

The minister said Hurriyet leadership has been taken into custody and steps are being taken to deport them from Kashmir.

He said Indian police and security forces were acting as silent spectators and do nothing to stop this harassment campaign against Kashmiris.

The Foreign Minister gave a clear message to India that Pakistan will not be cowed down by its threats and bullish attitude.

He said the whole nation is united to defend the motherland and our army, politicians, youth, and old stand shoulder to shoulder to counter any aggression by India.

He reiterated that Pakistan was a peace-loving country, “and we call upon the Indian prime minister to take steps in defusing the current situation.”

BJP must stop spreading belligerence for political mileage, he added.