Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal on Friday said Pakistani armed forces were fully capable of responding to any Indian aggression.

During the weekly press briefing, Dr Faisal said that Indian forces violated the ceasefire in 2018 on 200 occasions. “The number was more than 1,900 during the year 2017. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation,” he said.

He said that the arrest of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav was clear evidence that India was meddling in the internal affairs of Pakistan. He said the Indian deputy high commissioner was summoned to the Foreign Office to lodge a protest over frequent breaches of the ceasefire agreement by India. Dr Faisal said Pakistan had repeatedly asked India to provide information about Jadhav since January 2017, but all in vain. Responding to a question about Indian army chief’s statement about the martyrdoms along the Line of Control (LoC), the spokesman said such statements were reflection of the Indian mindset. “Pakistan still believes in having a peaceful neighbourhood which must be reciprocated. Armed forces of Pakistan are showing exemplary restraint and are fully capable of responding to any aggression in a befitting manner,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, February 10^th 2018.