Daily Times

The Foreign Office Saturday completely rejected unwarranted and tendentious comments of the Indian external affairs minister in which he blamed Pakistan for the current state of India-Pakistan relations as well as ‘justifying terror as a policy’.

Responding to media queries regarding the Indian external affairs minister’s comments made at a recent online think tank event, the Foreign Office spokesperson said rather than reflecting on its own egregious behaviour marked by illegal and unilateral actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), gross and systematic violations of human rights of unarmed and innocent Kashmiris, unabashed anti-minority policies and actions, incessantly bellicose statements against Pakistan, and aggressive steps in the shape of intensified violations of ceasefire along the Line of Control, India has resorted to fabrications and baseless allegations against Pakistan. “Clearly, an acknowledged perpetrator of state-terrorism cannot masquerade as a victim of terrorism,” the spokesperson said.

It was further said that portrayal of innocent Kashmiri youth, women and children, martyred in fake ‘encounters’ and ‘cordon-and-search’ operations, as terrorists to divert the world’s attention from the unacceptable actions of Indian occupation forces in IIOJK ‘is a travesty, reflective of the moral bankruptcy of the Indian leadership’.

“The so-called preachers of trade and connectivity should also tell the world as to who is blocking regional cooperation and the SAARC process, with its next Summit pending since 2016. Indian sophistry and obfuscation can neither hide hard facts, nor succeed in misleading the world community,” the spokesperson further added.

It was the RSS-BJP regime’s dangerous policies of ‘Hindutva’ and ‘Akhand Bharat’ that continue to victimize the Kashmiris in IIOJK and squeeze the space for the minorities in India on the one hand, and created problems with nearly all of India’s neighbours on the other hand. “Obviously, ‘normal’ relations with its neighbours remain contingent upon India beginning to act normally,” it was advised.

According to a report, 95,686 Kashmiris including 7,147 in custody have been martyred by Indian forces from January 1, 1989, to September 30, 2020, which speaks volumes about the ‘goodwill gesture’ of the brutal Indian forces towards the Kashmiri people. The report also mentioned the destruction of 110,367 civilian properties including houses and structures and gang-rape/molestation of 11,219 of women by the troop during the period to expose the reality of Indian Army’s Sadbhavana like operations.

The report said that the burial of martyred youth in military-run graveyards without funeral prayers on the pretext of Covid-19 pandemic is another example of Indian Army’s way of treating Kashmiri people. “Army is deliberately refusing people to handover bodies of their martyrs as huge funerals remain an embarrassment to India in IIOJK,” the report said, adding that martyr’s funerals work as a motivational force for the Kashmiri youth to join ranks and files of freedom movement. “People throng martyrs’ houses to show their love for them and jostle to touch their faces and feet, as if to be blessed,” it further said.

The report quoting local people said that Indian Army was showing double standards by refusing funerals to martyrs but dispose-off their own soldiers crowdedly with full protocol mocking the self-imposed Covid-19 rules for the Kashmiri martyrs.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Saturday rejected Armenian Prime Minister’s allegations referring to some unsubstantiated reports about involvement of Pakistani special forces alongside Azerbaijani army in the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “We categorically reject these baseless and unwarranted comments by the Armenian Prime Minister. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has also clarified his stance on the matter stating that Azerbaijani forces are strong enough to defend their homeland and do not need the help of foreign forces,” Foreign office spokesperson in a press release said.

According to press release, the foreign office said that it had seen the transcript of Armenian Prime Minister’s interview on 15th October with a Russian TV referring to some unsubstantiated reports alleging involvement of Pakistani special forces alongside Azerbaijani army in the ongoing conflict.

“It is regrettable that leadership of Armenia, to cover up its illegal actions against Azerbaijan, is resorting to irresponsible propaganda, which it must stop,” the spokesperson further said. “For our part, we wish to make clear that Pakistan has consistently extended diplomatic, moral and political support to Azerbaijan,” it was added.

Pakistan would continue to stand by the brotherly nation of Azerbaijan and support its right of self-defence against any aggression, he added.

He said that Pakistan believed that long-term peace and normalization of relations between the two parties would depend on the complete and comprehensive implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions and withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijani territories.