–Imran says Indian army chief’s statement adds to Pakistan’s concerns of a false flag operation
–Says protests against recent Citizens Amendment Act will turn into mass movement
ISLAMABAD: Amid heightened tension with India and increased Line of Control (LoC) violations, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said Pakistan would give a befitting response to any Indian “false flag operation” aimed at diverting attention from its domestic problems.
PM Imran Khan said that the Indian government wanted to whip up war hysteria and mobilise nationalist sentiment in India by vilifying Pakistan.
“I have been warning the international community of this for some time and am reiterating again: if India does such an operation to divert attention from its domestic chaos plus whip up war hysteria to mobilize Hindu nationalism, Pakistan will have no option but to give a befitting response,” he said in a series of tweets.
He said over the last five years the Modi government had been using the virulent Hindutva ideology to establish a Hindu Rashtra.
Now with the Citizens Amendment Act, all those Indians who want a pluralist India are beginning to protest and it is becoming a mass movement, the PM observed.
At the same time, he said the siege by Indian occupation forces in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) continued and a bloodbath could be expected when it was lifted.
“As these protests are increasing, a threat to Pakistan from India is also increasing. Indian Army Chief’s statement adds to our concerns of a false flag operation,” the prime minister remarked.
The prime minister’s remarks come days after the Indian army had claimed to have thwarted a cross border attack on the Line of Control (LOC) by Pakistan.
Indian Army Chief Bhipin Rawat, in a statement to Indian media, had said that the situation on the LOC could escalate at any time and that the people should be prepared to go to war.
“The situation along the LoC can escalate any time. We have to be prepared for the spiraling of the escalatory matrix,” the Indian army chief said.
Earlier, in response to the Indian army chief’s statement, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor had tweeted: “Provocative statements and preparations for escalation along LoC by Indian COAS appear to be an effort, as usual, to divert world attention from widespread protests in India against CAB.”
“Pakistan Armed Forces shall befittingly respond to any Indian misadventure or aggression.”
Pakistan has repeatedly alerted the international community that India will possibly stage a “false-flag operation” to “divert attention from massive human rights violations” in occupied Kashmir.
However, India accuses Pakistan of training and arming insurgent groups that have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denies. Pakistan says it only provides moral and diplomatic support to these groups.
On Aug 27, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Pakistan was trying to infiltrate militants into the country to carry out attacks amid rising tensions over New Delhi’s decision to abrogate the autonomy of Indian-occupied Kashmir. Its spokesman Raveesh Kumar had told reporters that Indian security forces were prepared to deal with any eventuality.
But, Pakistan binned the reports, saying it was a responsible state and “we would be insane to allow infiltration” across the Line of Control.
