After leading a diplomatic mission to Europe and the US in the wake of Pakistan-India clashes, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Friday that Islamabad defeated New Delhi on the battlefield and diplomatic front.
Bilawal received a warm welcome from the PPP leaders and workers in Karachi upon returning to the country on Friday.
The Bilawal-led high-level diplomatic delegation visited world major capitals during the 11-day tour. It presented Pakistan’s stance and highlighted New Delhi’s provocations and aggression against Islamabad.
It also cautioned the international community about India’s increasingly aggressive stance and its potential to destabilise South Asia.
Members of the parliamentary delegation include Hina Rabbani Khar, Sherry Rehman, Dr Musadik Malik, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Tehmina Janjua, Bushra Anjum Butt and Syed Faisal Subzwari.
Addressing the workers, he said that the high-level delegation visited major capitals in the US, UK and Europe on the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari.
Bilawal said the delegation presented Pakistan’s message of peace, the country’s stance on Kashmir dispute, Indus Waters Treaty and counterterrorism.
“India must comply with int’l law, Indus Waters Treaty, or Pakistan will fight another war,” warned PPP chief.
The former foreign minister credited the tireless efforts of Pakistani ambassadors across the globe for the country’s victory on the diplomatic front.
The PPP chief said India had also attacked Pakistan in 2019 during the government of Imran Khan but “he did not respond to New Delhi properly”.
He claimed that Islamabad gave a solid response to New Delhi both on the battlefield and diplomatically after the arch-rival used Kashmir to attack Pakistan.
“It is our historic victory as the world accepted that Kashmir is not a bilateral but a global issue,” said Bilawal while pointing towards US President Trump’s statement offering mediation on the longstanding issue.
He also claimed that the statement from the head of the US military to acknowledge Pakistan’s efforts in counterterrorism and calling Islamabad a “phenomenal partner in war against terror” was also a prove of the success of his diplomatic mission.
Bilawal said that immediately after his delegation completed his visit to the US, President Trump invited Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to the White House over lunch, terming it another major achievement of Pakistan.
Last month, both nuclear-armed neighbours carried out cross-border attacks against each other in the aftermath of the Pahalgam incident — wherein 26 tourists were killed in IIOJK — after which New Delhi launched airstrikes inside Pakistan prompting the latter to retaliate via Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States.