Pak can’t remain oblivious
Pakistan will make the fullest possible response to India’s actions in disputed Kashmir and the global community would be responsible for any “catastrophic” aftermath, Imran Khan, the prime minister of the Muslim-majority nation, said yesterday.
The rhetoric on the annual Defence Day remembrance of Pakistan’s fighters in a 1965 war with India underscores rising tension between the nuclear-armed foes after New Delhi last month revoked the autonomy of its part of disputed Kashmir.
“I have informed the world that Pakistan does not want war, but at the same time, Pakistan cannot remain oblivious to the challenges posed to its security and integrity,” Khan said in a statement on the website of state-run Radio Pakistan.
“We are prepared to give the enemy the fullest possible response. Failing, the world community will be responsible for the catastrophic aftermath,” he added.
This week Khan had said war between the South Asian neighbours was a risk, but Pakistan would not act first, reported Reuters. Pakistan will never abandon Kashmir, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa told a defence function in the city of Rawalpindi.
India flooded the Kashmir valley with troops and restricted movements as Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew special rights for Kashmir on August 5.
Meanwhile, the government in Kashmir said landline telephone service had been restored a month into a near-total communications blackout and security lockdown was imposed.
On Thursday, people lined up at offices or homes that have landline telephones to try to contact family and friends after the long wait, but many were unable to get through after repeated attempts.
“Our landlines have been restored but we are still unable to talk to people. It is frustrating. I have been trying to call people since morning, but I am not getting through,” said Syed Musahid in Srinagar.
Many Kashmiris living outside the region also said they were having trouble getting in touch with their families inside occupied Kashmir, reported AP.
“I kept trying a hundred times to reach my family in Kashmir, and only then did my call go through,” said Bint-e-Ali, a Kashmiri in Bengaluru.
She said she still hasn’t been able to talk to her ailing grandmother in Srinagar.
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