‘Fully prepared to respond to any misadventure’, says Pakistan; holds emergency meet after IAF strike
NATIONAL | February 26, 2019:
On Tuesday, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that "better sense" should prevail in India after Indian fighter jets crossed the Line of Controlcarried out airstrike on terror camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Qureshi said his country "holds the right to proper response" to what he termed a "grave aggression".
"I will term it a grave aggression…It is a violation of the Line of Control. Pakistan holds the right to self defence and proper response," said Qureshi, according to a video statement posted by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the ruling party of the country.
The IAF carried out the strikes at terror camp deep across the LoC at the biggest training centre of Jaish-e-Mohammed at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The IAF used Mirage 2000 jets to strike at the terror camp in the highly rugged and mountainous region. Reports said 200-300 terrorists were killed in the IAF operation.
The PTI, the party headed by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, said in another Twitter post that "Qureshi warned India not to challenge Pakistan" saying "Pakistan is fully prepared to respond to any misadventure."
In a TV interview, Qureshi said there is section in India which "is trying to disturb the peace in the region" to serve its own political end. "Indian government is in dire need of winning the upcoming elections, selfish enough, they are willing to create unrest in the entire region. Pakistan will use all international forums to expose India while being ready to retaliate to any aggression," PTI's official handle quoted Qureshi as saying.
Qureshi had called an "emergency meeting" after India carried out air strikes across the LoC and destroyed terror camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Early Tuesday morning, the Indian Air Force Indian forces carried out a strike at the biggest camp of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said hours after IAF dropped 1,000 pound bombs in a thickly-forested hilltop that has eliminated a large number of terrorists.
The IAF air strike came less than two week after a terror attack in Pulwama killed 40 CRPF troopers. The Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed that attack.
Source: HT
