ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan will not initiate any military action against India but will deliver a “befitting response” if provoked, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar declared on Wednesday amid growing fears of an imminent Indian cross-border strike.
Addressing a press briefing at the Foreign Office alongside Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lt General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Dar said the Pakistan military was fully prepared to respond to any threat.
The DG ISPR added that while Pakistan sought no escalation, Islamabad would decide its course of action if India opted for a military route.
The carefully worded remarks by the deputy prime minister and Pakistan’s military spokesperson came against the backdrop of reports claiming that India was considering military strikes following the recent Pahalgam incident.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly chaired a series of high-level meetings over the past two days, granting the armed forces a “free hand” to retaliate.
Foreign Minister Dar reiterated that Pakistan condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. While the initial statement on the Pahalgam attack was measured, he has now issued an explicit condemnation of the incident.
Dar reiterated Pakistan’s principled stance against terrorism, stating: “Let me start by reiterating that Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. No cause or objective can justify taking the lives of innocent people. This is the national and Islamic policy: killing of a human being is tantamount to killing entire humanity as per the [Holy] Quran and saving a life is tantamount to saving entire humanity.”
The deputy prime minister said the targeting of innocent civilians was deeply condemnable and deplorable, adding that Pakistan had consistently raised its principled stance against such acts wherever they occurred globally.
“We are concerned over the loss of life during the Pahalgam attack. We also extend our condolences. Being a victim of terrorism itself, no one can feel the pain of those impacted by this scourge like Pakistan,” Dar said.
However, Dar criticised India for its duplicity, stating that New Delhi “glorifies and even celebrates its assassination campaigns and sponsoring of terrorism in Pakistan and other countries”.
“No other country has sacrificed or suffered as much as Pakistan in the fight against terrorism,” he added.
Dar warned that the entire region faced a grave threat to peace and stability owing to the “politically motivated and highly provocative environment being created by India” in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.
He noted that world leaders had urged restraint in recent days and clarified: “I have made it very clear, on behalf of the government and the nation, that Pakistan will not be the first one to resort to any escalatory move. However, in case of any escalatory move by the Indian side, we will respond very strongly”.
Dar also expressed concern over the “media frenzy and war-mongering” in India. “Each and every incident in India seems to be deliberate and choreographed”, he said, adding it was “unfortunate that India continues to weaponise unsubstantiated accusations and allegations as part of its disinformation strategy for narrow political ends”.
“It has become a very familiar template aimed at diverting attention from India’s inability to suppress the inalienable right of Kashmiris to self-determination, its security failures in [occupied Kashmir] as well as its decades-long state terrorism and oppression.”
The DG ISPR gave a detailed presentation on India, within minutes of the Pahalgam attack, started blaming Pakistan.
He said that Pakistan will focus on the facts of the incident, not on allegations. Referring to the Pahalgam incident, he pointed out that it takes at least 30 minutes to reach a police station from the location, which is 230 kilometres away from the Line of Control (LoC).
“How is it possible for someone to cover such a difficult terrain and reach there within 10 minutes?” he questioned.
He added that India’s portrayal of the attack as “Muslims firing on Hindus” raised serious questions.
He said that the Indian narrative portrays this as a terrorist attack, claiming that Muslims fired at Hindus. “Why is such a narrative being pushed by India?” he asked.
DG ISPR noted that Indian media claimed that Pakistani agencies were behind the attack, and these allegations began surfacing within minutes of the incident. “Whenever such an attack happens, a specific Indian account reports it first, and Indian media picks it up and sensationalises it. These are questions we are analysing, and the world is also watching.”
He further said that the Pahalgam incident is being used as a pretext to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty.
“India has a long-standing habit of exploiting terrorism incidents for political purposes. For the past 50 years, India has followed the same strategy: blame Pakistan, take credit, win elections, that’s their objective.”
DG ISPR revealed that there are reports of Pakistani prisoners being killed in fake encounters in Indian jails. “India is using imprisoned Pakistanis in staged encounters. In Uri, a man named Muhammad Farooq was killed in a fake encounter by Indian forces, labelling him an infiltrator. In reality, he was an innocent civilian. India is killing innocent people under the pretext of infiltration.”
“Pakistani and Kashmiri citizens are being held in Indian prisons, where they are tortured and forced to give false statements. India is carrying out state-sponsored terrorism within Pakistan.”
Meanwhile, Dar raised several questions for India and the international community to answer.
“One, is it not time for the international community to hold India accountable for its transnational assassinations in different countries, including Pakistan? Two, is it not important to distinguish between the international community’s sympathies with the victims of the incident and the unwitting endorsement of Indian belligerence?”
Thirdly, he questioned is it not that the Indian propaganda was aimed at fabricating a case for military adventure.
“Don’t you think that India’s blatant disregard for international law and whimsical approach towards its obligations would lead to a highly unstable and unpredictable regional order?”
“Five, isn’t it high time for the international community to step in and condemn India and prevent it from targeting people on the basis of Islamophobia and religious hatred?
“Six, can we deny that the dangerous Indian brinkmanship and efforts aimed at escalation can potentially lead to disastrous consequences in a nuclearised region and beyond?” he further asked.
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