Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan criticised India’s decision to end Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and said this would lead to more violence. “They have gone against their Constitution, against the verdict of the Indian Supreme Court, against the verdict of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, against 17 UN resolutions, against UN General Assembly resolutions, and against the Simla Agreement,” he said.
“They want to change the demography of Kashmir by revoking Kashmir’s special status. This is against Article 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention; this is a war crime. They have violated all international and local laws for their ideology.”
Mr. Khan said the decision to revoke Article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir would lead to further violence in the Valley. “The resistance of the Kashmiri people will increase. This will lead to further crackdown in Kashmir. This will have a reaction: I predict another Pulawama-type incident. They will blame it on Pakistan when everyone knows Pakistan had nothing to do with Pulwama.”
The Pakistan Prime Minister warned that India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed states, could not afford to run such risks. “If they take action against us, we will respond. Then what will happen? Conventional war? Then what? War can go against us or for us. If it goes against us, then what will we do? Two options: one, give up. Two, fight till the last drop of blood. We are not afraid to die. No one will survive as a result of this. I am not using nuclear blackmail here; I am using my common sense. I appeal to the world to do something now; otherwise, the consequences will be too dire.”
He added that Pakistan will take up the issue at international forums. “We will go to the UN Security Council; we are thinking of going to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) through the UNSC, raise it at the UN General Assembly, we will talk to all heads of states.”
The military brass held a meeting at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on Tuesday to discuss the scrapping of Article 370. Director-General (DG), Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted: “Forum fully supported [the] government’s rejection of Indian actions regarding Kashmir. Pakistan never recognised the sham Indian efforts to legalise its occupation of Jammu & Kashmir through article 370 or 35-A decades ago; efforts which have now been revoked by India itself.”
He quoted Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa as saying: “The Pakistan Army firmly stands by the Kashmiris in their just struggle to the very end. We are prepared and shall go to any extent to fulfil our obligations in this regard.”
Earlier in Parliament, Mr. Khan said Pakistan tried to restart talks with India, but realised later that New Delhi was not interested in it. “In Bishkek [where the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit held in June], we saw their attitude and realised that our peace efforts were seen as our weakness by India. Then we decided that we wouldn’t talk to them again,” he said.
