On the occasion of Pakistan’s 73rd Independence Day, Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his address on Wednesday, 14 August, said his country had solid information that India was planning some actions in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He warned that his battle-hardened army was ready to give a befitting response to any aggression by India.
“Like the action they took in Balakot after Pulwama, according to our information, they have made a more sinister plan now. To shift the world’s focus away from occupied Kashmir, they want to take action in Pakistani Kashmir.”
"Every brick will be countered with a stone," Khan said. "We will respond to whatever you do, we will go till the end...If you are thinking to teach us lesson, then listen carefully time has come that we will teach you a lesson," he added.
Khan, who was addressing a special session of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s (PoK) Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad, said the move to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was a “strategic blunder.”
He vowed to become the “voice of Kashmir” and raise the issue at every global forum, including the United Nations, as he questioned the silence of the international community on the tense situation in the region.
"The world's eye is on Kashmir and on Pakistan...I will be the ambassador who raises Kashmir's voice at every international forum," he said.
He said that if a war breaks out between Pakistan and India, the world community will be responsible. It is not the first time that Khan has spoken about the possibility of war with India.
Last week, addressing a joint session of Pakistan's parliament, Khan expressed apprehension that Pulwama-like attacks can follow the revocation of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir, which could trigger a conventional war between Pakistan and India.
On Khan's comments that India was trying to create a war-like situation with his country, the MEA spokesman in New Delhi last week said Islamabad was trying to project a panic situation to the international community.
The spokesman said time has come for Pakistan to accept the new reality and stop interfering in India's internal affairs.
Khan claimed that the whole world, including the entire Muslim population in the world, was looking towards the United Nations.
"You will see the numbers in which the public will come out during the United Nations General Assembly in September," he said, referring to the upcoming annual session of the the world body.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
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