Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Information & Broadcasting Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Friday said that the war between Pakistan and India would not be in the interest of anybody as it would not only hurt people of both the countries but the whole world would suffer and extremism would rise.

Speaking during the joint sitting of the parliament, he said, “War is not in the interest of anybody and win or loss in it is just an illusion because it will cause destruction everywhere.”

He said there was a national consensus that Pakistan did not want a war but the question was whether the same consensus existed in India and the answer was that no consensus was there.

Since December last year, news was pouring in that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to create a situation in India before their elections that triggers an atmosphere of aggression against Pakistan, he explained.

“Our foreign minister has informed the ambassadors of permanent members of United Nations Security Council about this situation and he and the Foreign Office conveyed their apprehensions to them and asked them to look into the situation. We requested all of them that India should be stopped from acting on its intentions,” he said, adding that the prime minister and foreign minister took the parliament into confidence about the present security situation.

Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said Pakistan regretted the incident of Pulwama in Indian-Held Kashmir.

Pakistan condemned terrorism across the world, he said adding that naturally there was anger in India about the incident as it was the biggest loss for its army in India since 1947.

“In Pakistan, we are tackling these kinds of incidents for the last 30 years,” he maintained.

He said India needed introspection as in the area of Pulwama where the incident occurred, 100 children were martyred and the incidents of rape of women and oppression and cruelty were occurring regularly. India needed to look inward but it did not introspect and thought better to put all onus on Pakistan, he observed.

He said no country faced terrorism more than Pakistan whose 70,000 citizens were martyred in acts of terrorism.

“From General Sanaullah Niazi Shaheed to soldier Ashfaq, we buried our dead. In Jhelum, there is no graveyard where a martyr is not buried and no village is without a ghazi,” he said.

He said Pakistanis were enjoying freedom and security due to sacrifices of the martyrs.

The minister pointed out that the greatest loss due to the current situation was suffered by Kashmiris and Punjabis.

“If war breaks out between the two countries, Kashmiris and Punjabis will suffer the most,” he said.

He said he also wanted to add that Pakistan also certainly needed to review its policies of 40 years.

The minister said parliament should also stand united on the issue of extremism in Pakistan as it came together in the present situation.

“On the issue of extremism, we need introspection,” he said adding that PM Imran Khan since coming into office had performed the role of a statesman.

Fawad Hussain said when Imran Khan came to the house, he thanked all of the opposition and in the last six months, Pakistan under the leadership of Khan had emerged as an important country in the Middle East.

He said he wanted to make it clear that leaders of United Arab Emirates Muhammad Bin Zayed and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Salman were friends and sympathisers of Pakistan and the situation at Organisation of Islamic Cooperation regarding India was due to a misunderstanding.

He said today, India was divided while Pakistan was united and he urged the saner elements in India to not get duped for the election of one person.

He paid tribute to the Armed Forces of Pakistan especially General Qamar Javed Bajwa and the Air Force for tackling the situation bravely. The nation was proud of their courage and the parliament stood behind the Armed Forces strongly and steadfastly, he added.