Pakistan has denounced the provocative remarks made by the Indian defence minister during a recent televised interview.
In a statement, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan stands resolute in its intent and ability to safeguard its sovereignty against any act of aggression, as demonstrated by its robust response to India's reckless incursion in February 2019, which laid bare India's hollow claims of military superiority.
The spokesperson said India's ruling dispensation habitually resorts to hateful rhetoric to fuel hyper-nationalistic sentiments, unapologetically exploiting such discourse for electoral gains.
Such myopic and irresponsible behaviour not only undermines regional peace but also impedes the prospects of constructive engagement in the long term.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan has always demonstrated its commitment to peace in the region. However, our desire for peace should not be misconstrued. History attests to Pakistan's firm resolve and ability to protect and defend itself.
The spokesperson recalled that Pakistan has provided irrefutable evidence, elucidating India's campaign of extrajudicial and transnational assassinations on Pakistani soil. She said India's assertion of its preparedness to extra-judicially execute more civilians, arbitrarily pronounced as "terrorists", inside Pakistan constitutes a clear admission of culpability. She urged the international community to hold India accountable for its heinous and illegal actions.
Yesterday, the Foreign Office had said that the Indian network of extrajudicial and extraterritorial killings was now a “global phenomenon” that required a coordinated international response.
In the Friday statement, the FO had said that India’s assassination of Pakistani nationals on Pakistani soil was a clear violation of the country’s sovereignty and a breach of the UN Charter.
“These cases exposed the increasing sophistication and brazenness of Indian-sponsored terrorist acts inside Pakistan, with striking similarities to the pattern observed in other countries, including Canada and the United States,” the FO said.
“It is critical to bring to justice the perpetrators, facilitators, financiers and sponsors of these extrajudicial and extraterritorial killings. India must be held accountable internationally for its blatant violation of international law,” the FO had said.
