ISLAMABAD: Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that Pakistan’s armed forces are fully prepared to thwart Indian aggression.
He said there is “no doubt” that India is behind the state-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan, asking for independent, impartial and transparent investigations into Pahalgam incident.
“We are ready and fully capable to deal with India’s aggression, don’t test our patience. We gave befitting reply to India in 2019,” the DG ISPR added.
He said the spokesperson of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) had appeared on multiple Indian news channels after the Jaffar Express attack, where he was openly glorified.
Addressing a news conference jointly with DG ISPR, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced that Pakistan’s armed forces have been placed on high alert to respond to any potential Indian aggression. Pakistan will not take the lead to attack India, he said but warned of strong response if provoked by New Delhi.
The foreign minister said Pakistan was cognisant of the developing situation. “We are very alert, the armed forces are alert, and the NSC’s resolve is very much there to teach India a lesson.”
FM Dar said the entire region was facing a serious threat to peace and stability owing to the politically motivated and highly provocative environment being created by India” in the wake of the Pahalgam incident.
“The world leaders have been requesting the exercise of restraint in recent days. I have made it very clear, on behalf of the government and the nation, that Pakistan will not be the first one to resort to any escalatory move. However, in case of any escalatory move by the Indian side, we will respond very strongly,” he said.
The DG ISPR said that Pakistan has taken all possible measures and completed preparedness to forcefully counter Indian aggression.
The DPM/ FM said the targeting of innocent civilians was sorely condemnable and deplorable, adding that Pakistan had been raising its policy in this regard wherever it was happening in the world.
Pakistan is concerned over the loss of life during the Pahalgam attack. “We also extend our condolences. Being a victim of terrorism itself, no one can feel the pain of those impacted by this scourge like Pakistan,” Dar said.
On the other hand, he said: “India glorifies and even celebrates its assassination campaign and sponsoring of terrorism in Pakistan and other countries. No other country has sacrificed so much or suffered as much as Pakistan due to terrorism.”
Dar said that it was not the first time that India had resorted to this practice. “They have done it before and resorted again to the same to what they did in the Pulwama incident,” he said, adding that it had become a very familiar template aimed at diverting attention from India’s inability to suppress the inalienable right of Kashmiris to self-determination. India deliberately raises tensions with Pakistan to distract the international community’s attention from the hostilities of what is happening in the occupied Kashmir.
The DG ISPR said that our Chinese brothers had become the victim of Indian terrorism.
The DPM reiterated Pakistan’s demand for an independent and transparent probe by neutral investigators into Pahalgam. Any TORs in this regard should be credible and mutually agreed upon.
Furthermore, DG ISPR Lt Gen Chaudhry pointed out that the Pahalgam attack site was located far from the nearest town of Bagh in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, emphasising that Pakistan was presenting facts rather than engaging in baseless blame game.
The military spokesperson said the Indian social media accounts were spreading propaganda against Islam and Pakistan had previously been linked to terrorist attacks in the country, including the November 4, 2023, assault in Mianwali and the October 6, 2024, attack on Chinese nationals in Karachi.
The DG ISPR said Indian media was the first to show footage of the attack that was shot by the BLA.
He said the issue of Indian-sponsored assassinations and terrorism has gone global now, affecting Canada, the US and Australia, as well.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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