Pakistan declared on Thursday that the mechanism of bilateralism to resolve issue with India has failed. "Pakistan has given a clear message to the world that the mechanism of bilateralism to resolve outstanding issues with India has failed and the ball is now in the international community court to resolve the core issues between our two countries," said Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz while briefing National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The Adviser and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry gave a detailed briefing to the parliamentary panel on the Indian violations of the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary (WB). The meeting was chaired by the ruling PML-N MNA Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, whose membership was suspended by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for failure to submit annual assets' details required under the law.
"The international community had given us [Pakistan & India] a chance to resolve the outstanding issues through the mechanism of bilateral dialogue and we have now given a clear notice to the world that this mechanism has failed to resolve the core issues between our two countries," Sartaj Aziz said. Responding to queries by committee members, he declared that our armed forces are well-prepared to respond befittingly to any foreign aggression and India could not afford any misadventurism, including surgical strikes inside Pakistan.
"At the same time when we are making our diplomatic efforts to aggressively raise the issue of Indian violations of the LoC and the Working Boundary on international level, we have also ordered our armed forces to give a befitting response to the Indian aggression on the ground," he said.
Responding to various statements emanating from India, the Adviser said that Pakistan has already made it clear that its earnest desire for normalising bilateral relations and defusing the situation should not be seen as a sign of weakness, but maturity and sincerity. He added that our armed forces are ready to effectively respond to any kind of foreign aggression with fullest of our capacity.
To another query, he said that Kashmir issue has remained at top of the agenda of the bilateral talks with India and Pakistan has made it clear to India that no talks will be held without the inclusion of Kashmir in the agenda. He said that it is also understood that Kashmiri leadership will be consulted prior to any dialogue with India. Aziz rejected the Indian impression linking Kashmir dispute with the issue of terrorism, saying Kashmir does not come in the ambit of terrorism, but the people of Kashmir were guaranteed right of self-determination by the UN Security Council resolutions.
He also rejected the Indian narratives that the bilateral agreements between the two countries have undermined the mandate of the UN Security Council's resolutions on Kashmir issue and the mandate of the United Nations Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).
The Adviser also dispelled the impression in the Indian media that there is any civil and military division as far the situation on LoC and the Working Boundary is concerned. Giving the background of the Indian aggression on the LoC and the Working Boundary, he said that it was part of the "larger game", which the Modi government is pursuing, which started with Pakistan bashing during his election campaign.
To counter the 'game-plan', Aziz, however, said that Pakistan needs to build international opinion which needs not to adopt an aggressive approach to counter the Indian 'game-plan". He said that he would talk to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on the Indian violations of the LoC and the Working Boundary. Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry told the panel that the present government is pursuing a policy of good neighbourly relations with all neighbours, including India.
While we were waiting for India to indicate how it wished to proceed further since it had cancelled the foreign secretary level talks, it set off another crisis by incessant cease-fire violations, he added. Giving details, he said that Indian forces started firing on September 30 and kept increasing the intensity while on October 06 [EID day], their violations took place from seven sectors by using mortars, rockets and small arms, stretching over 900 kilometers of LoC.
"Indians did not show respect for the Muslims' highest religious festival of Eid-ul-Azha," he said, adding that the indiscriminate firing kills 12 innocent civilians' including women and children, and injured 52 others, including nine Pakistani soldiers. From September 30 to October 11, Chaudhry said that 44 cease-fire violations were committed by the Indian Security Forces, 22 each at the Working Boundary and LoC. He pointed out that this was not the first time that Indians have violated the cease-fire as between June and August this year, 169 violations took place.
In keeping with its tradition, the Indian media simultaneously started propaganda to blame Pakistan, he said, adding that venomous debates by the so-called experts and analysts on media were conducted to present the Indian narrative with a view to justifying their cease-fire violations.
He said that Pakistan lodged a formal protest with India through diplomatic channels, and later in a statement the Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs called upon the Indian government to immediately cease fire and shelling to help preserve tranquility.
"Unfortunately, the Indian side chose to keep the borders hot coupled with provocative statements by the Home and Defence Ministers, which only encouraged the Indian forces to continue with their aggressive posture," he said, adding that Pakistan's armed forces restrained themselves to response only.
He further said that Pakistan will continue to pursue a policy of peaceful relations with its neighbours and peace with India is a priority item on Pakistan's foreign policy agenda. He said that both countries are aware of each other's capabilities and war is not an option for either. "It is our hope that the international community would play its due role to defuse the current situation and urge India to engage in a serious dialogue with Pakistan to resolve all issues including Kashmir," he added.
He said that Pakistan is open to use of appropriate channels to ascertain the reasons behind the current crisis. He further said that India should facilitate the UNMOGIP to discharge its responsibility to monitor cease-fire and help preserve peace and tranquility along the LoC and the WB. The committee later passed a unanimous resolution condemning the Indian aggression. The committee also called upon the international community to take notice of the human rights violations being committed by the Indian army.
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