PM Kakar says Pakistan ready to face any aggression, reiterates support to Kashmiris

MUZAFFARABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister (PM) Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Friday reiterating Pakistan’s principled position and support on Kashmir issue, categorically said that the country was ready to face any kind of aggression, ARY News reported.

“Pakistan is not a war-mongering nation. But if anyone thinks that we are weak, shying away or hesitating, they should remove this misunderstanding,” the interim premier said in an interaction with the students of different colleges and universities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) during his two-day visit.

During the interaction, PM Kakar said that no one could dare cast an evil eye on Pakistan and that its desire for peace should not be misconstrued as weakness or hesitation to face any aggression.

“Muzaffarabad is not Gaza and New Delhi is not Tel Aviv. No one can dare to kill 4,000 children here,” he added.

Expressing his confidence in Pakistan’s defense capabilities in the context of the Indian aggression, he said though Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had same attitudes, they had different implementing capability and response mechanisms.

To a question, the prime minister strongly rejected the rumours of any change in Pakistan’s policy to follow the Indian suit to merge AJK in Pakistan, he said, “No one can think of such stupid act. Nobody can dare.”

He said the rumours were spread by enemies to create misunderstandings and that Pakistan had a principled journey with Kashmiris backed by the sacrifices of 90,000 people throughout the decades.

He said Pakistan had fought three wars with India on Kashmir and was are ready to face any kind of aggression. “Are we fighting the wars to make Kashmir KP. This is out of question,” he commented and reiterated Pakistan’s resolved of not budging an inch from its principled position.

To a suggestion about a corridor between AJK and IIOJK, he said India was not allowing Kashmiris move freely even from their homes in Srinagar, what to talk of traveling to AJK. This will be possible when the Kashmir question will go to its final settlement. We should strive to take the issue to finals settlement, he added.

He said the only solution to Kashmir dispute was to hold plebiscite as per the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions.

He said during the visit, he held detailed consultations with AJK parliamentarians across different political parties and Hurriyat leadership and mulled over how to project and exploit the matter in collaboration with the society and the diaspora.

About the repatriation of foreigners, PM Kakar reiterated that only the illegal foreigners were being repatriated as they had been posing security challenge for the country.

The statement came after India’s Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous verdict that the special status of held Kashmir was a temporary provision and upheld the order abrogating Article 370 in the constitution.

In August 2019, India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had revoked occupied Kashmir’s special status by repealing Article 370 of the constitution. The law had limited the power of the Indian parliament to impose laws in the state, apart from matters of defence, foreign affairs and communications.

The move allowed people from the rest of the country to have the right to acquire property in held Kashmir and settle there permanently.