Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday told his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi that he stood by his words of immediately acting if India provides Pakistan with “actionable intelligence” regarding the February 14 attack in south Kashmir’s Pulwama that killed 49 CRPF personnel.
Earlier, at a rally in Rajasthan, Modi recalled a conversation with Khan he had after he became the premier, in which he had told him “let us fight against poverty and illiteracy” and Khan had given his word saying he is a Pathan’s son.
Khan reiterated Pakistan’s desire to see stability in the region, and said that Modi should “give peace a chance”, according to a statement released by the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office.
“In my meeting with PM Modi in December 2015, we had agreed that since poverty alleviation is a priority for our region, we would not allow any terrorist incident to derail peace efforts, however long before Pulwama, these efforts were derailed in September 2018,” the premier said, in reference to India’s cancellation of a meeting between the Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last year.
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“Sadly, now peace remains elusive due to elections in India,” Khan said in the statement.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan FO issued a statement expressing concern over the expected hearing of petitions in the Supreme Court of India calling for the scrapping of Article 35-A of the Indian constitution.
“Pakistan condemns any such attempts as these are clearly aimed at bringing about demographic changes in the Indian-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IoK),” read the statement.
The handout added that “any move in this direction would be a blatant violation of international law and the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, which prohibit introducing material changes to the disputed territory”.
The FO in its statement also expressed grave concern at the evolving situation in Kashmir.
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It noted that following retaliatory attacks against Kashmiris and several parts of India after the Pulawama attack, the Indian government has demonstrated further heavy-handedness with “enhanced use of force, large-scale arrests, and incarceration of senior Kashmiri leaders”.
“The large-scale deployment of additional paramilitary forces, and orders by the local administration to hospitals and about sale of fuel and food grains, are contributing to an atmosphere of extreme intimidation and fear. Immediate steps are required to reverse this frenzy and restore calm,” the statement said.
The FO further called upon the international community to “take cognisance of the situation and counsel India to refrain from further escalation, defuse current tensions and resolve issues through dialogue and engagement”.
Meanwhile, Kashmir valley on Sunday shut down in protest called by the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) against mass arrests and a legal challenge to Article 35A. A complete shutdown was also observed in highway town of Banihal.
Today, a complete shutdown is being observed in Mandi town of Poonch on Monday in defense of Article 35-A.
All shops and other commercial establishments are closed while transport is off the roads.
