- Says Pakistan to release Indian pilot today as ‘peace gesture’
Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing on the occasion of joint session of Parliament at Parliament House in Islamabad on Thursday.ISLAMABAD, February 28: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday while giving policy statement in the during the joint session of Parliament on recent rising tension between Pakistan and India said Islamabad’s efforts to de-escalate tensions should not be considered as our weakness.
Addressing the session Imran Khan said, “I tried to talk to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to de-escalate tensions but this move should not be considered as our weakness. We are indulging our efforts to maintain peace in the region.”
“I want to tell this august house, Pakistan desires peace. Pakistan intends to work for poverty alleviation, investment, and job creation. We do not intend war. In our desire of peace, I announce that on Friday, as a first step to open negotiations, Pakistan will be releasing the Indian Air Force officer which is in our custody.
“Two nations with weapons of mass destruction should not divulge on the path of war. I seek peace with India. “We tried to resolve issues through dialogue to lower tensions between both countries. India started blaming Pakistan 30 minutes after Indian soldiers were targeted in Pulwama district of Occupied Kashmir.
“I immediately offered India to provide actionable evidence because we have vowed not to allow our soil to be used against any other country. Unfortunately, war hysteria started booming in India.
“I would like to thank Pakistani media for reporting events responsibly. Our media showed mature attitude, but sadly, Indian media created war hysteria and we feared that India will do something foolish.
“India has provided dossier on Pulwama incident today after 14 days. They attacked Pakistan two days back. All this would have been averted if they had provided the details earlier.
“I was informed around 3:30am about Indian act of aggression. I talked to Army Chief and Air Chief and discussed how we should respond. As a responsible state, we did not retaliate immediately to avoid escalation.
“Next day, Indian fighter jets again violated Pakistan’s airspace. “Our armed forces have fought against terrorism valiantly. They have become battle-hardened. However, we did not want any further escalation as it won’t be in favor of any country.-DNA
