- Says India is playing with fire and Pakistan’s desire of peace should not be mistaken to its weakness
- Says Indian intelligence agency RAW has established a special
cell at a cost of $500 million to sabotage CPEC project
ISLAMABAD, November 14: Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mahmood Hayat says resolution of Kashmir dispute is imperative for peace in South Asia.
He was addressing a two-day international conference organized by Islamabad Policy Research Institute in Islamabad on Tuesday. The Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee said India is stoking chaos and anarchy in the region. He said Indian intelligence agency RAW has established a special cell at a cost of 500 million dollars to sabotage the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. Besides, he said India is fanning terrorism in Balochistan and is also supporting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
He said that Pakistan will maintain minimum nuclear deterrence in the context of current regional situation. General Zubair said India is trying to label Kashmiris’ indigenous struggle for freedom as terrorism.
He said India is using brute force against the innocent people of Kashmir and has deployed a huge number of forces in the held territory.
General Zubair said India has been resorting to massive human-rights violations in Occupied Kashmir which include extra-judicial killings, rape and deliberate assault of the innocent masses. General Zubair said the trend of ceasefire violations by India has been escalating across Line of Control and in the current year alone 1200 ceasefire violations were reported which is the highest in last ten years. He said Pakistan seeks peace in the region and does not want to disturb the balance.
He cautioned that India’s wishful thinking of escalating the tension into a greater conflict will be dealt accordingly. He said India is playing with fire and Pakistan’s desire of peace should not be mistaken to its weakness.
Moreover, he said, India has become an extremist country from being a secular one, an example of which lied in the atrocities in held-Kashmir and attitude towards Pakistan.
There is one Indian soldier for 20 Kashmiris and 94,000 Kashmiris have been martyred while more than 7,700 have lost their eyesight, he added.
The general said India so far martyred 1,000 Pakistani citizens and 300 soldiers. He said India has violated the ceasefire for more than 1,200 times, thereby, continuing its years-old war against Pakistan.
He said India wants to manipulate the Indus Water Treaty and India’s stance of not giving Pakistan its dues share under the treaty is strange to the country.
He said India has launched an aggressive anti-CPEC campaign with aims to deprive Pakistan from economic benefits. He added that India has also established a news cell with a cost of 500 million dollars to scuttle the CPEC projects.
He said South Asia owes genesis to two issues one of which is Kashmir dispute and the other is absence of a political solution to Afghan conflict. He said Pakistan is the only country in the entire region which has successfully fought the war against terrorism and has rendered unparallel sacrifices of men and material.
He said despite the loss the country faced, the morale of the nation and the army is high and unwavering. He said Pakistan will support efforts by all the stakeholders for resolution of inter-connected disputes of the region through realistic approach. He said Pakistan prefers cooperation over conflict and it backs the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.
He said the regional powers need to devise counter violation strategies to combat terrorism and extremism. He congratulated IPRI for arranging a thought-provoking conference and hoped that the analyses of the international scholars will be beneficial for better understanding of regional dynamics and the strategic concerns.
Earlier, while giving the opening speech, Islamabad Policy Research Institute chief Abdul Basit Khan said Pakistan is determined to restore peace in Afghanistan, but both the countries should bolster the process.
Basit has also served as Pakistan’s high commissioner to India. However, Basit too believes peace in the region is not possible unless the Kashmir issue is resolved.
He said Pakistan wants to hold talks with India, but that requires the latter country to come to the table. Until then, he added, India is pushing the region towards instability.-Sabah
