• Shehbaz notes missile attack ‘against spirit of friendship, principles of good neighbourliness’
• Sherry says Pakistan will have to respond ‘if better sense does not prevail’
• Imran blames PDM, caretakers for ‘failed foreign policy’ on Kabul, Tehran

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: All major political parties, including PTI, PML-N and PPP, on Wednesday strongly condemned Iran’s violation of Pakistan’s airspace, an incident that has stoked tensions between the two neighbouring countries.

The condemnations poured in after an Iranian air strike killed two children in Balochistan’s Panjgur district a day earlier.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif expressed his shock at the Iranian breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty. “This missile attack is against the spirit of our friendship and principles of good neighbourliness, especially as it undermines the historic relationship between our two countries,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Sincere dialogue and meaningful cooperation between our two countries is the need of the hour,” he said and expressed his condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in the Iranian attack.

Senator Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party said the unprovoked attack by Iran inside Pakistan’s border was both unacceptable and condemnable.

“Pakistan has acted with restraint whenever there’s been turbulence on the Pak-Iran border by terrorist groups, and always sought collective responses to the transnational challenge of terrorism. This needs to be understood as strategic maturity, not kinetic weakness,” she tweeted.

“Secondly, such strikes erode Muslim unity at an existential moment of great need for jointly navigating forums for cooperation while the tragic and painful genocide in Gaza at the hands of Israel continues with impunity.

“Thirdly, de-escalation will need Teheran to understand that violence and conflict are exactly what non-state actors and terrorists are seeking. That gives them fertile ground for metastasising. Pakistan has no stakes in fanning the flames of such conflict but will obviously have to respond if better sense does not prevail.”

PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari described the Iranian strikes as “audacious”, saying that they “are an egregious illegal violation of international law and a blatant disregard for state sovereignty”.

“This unprovoked aggression is a dangerous escalation that threatens regional stability and cannot be tolerated. It demands not only strong condemnation but also swift and decisive action to ensure accountability and justice — the sanctity of borders and the safety of civilians must be upheld at all costs, and there will be repercussions,” he posted on X.

PTI supremo Imran Khan took the opportunity to criticise the current and the preceding governments for what he called their failed foreign policy on Kabul and Tehran.

Speaking to media persons after a hearing in the Toshakhana case at Adiala Jail, the former prime minister claimed that the previous administration led by the Pakistan Democratic Movement government spoiled relations with the Taliban government, which Mr Khan said had established diplomatic relations with Pakistan soon after assuming Afghanistan’s control in August 2021.

Highlighting that the Pakistani government facilitated the US-Taliban dialogues in Doha, Mr Khan regretted that former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari never bothered to go to Afghanistan even once.

He also claimed that since the focus of the relevant quarters was the PTI, the diplomatic relations with the country’s neighbours had been a low priority.

Mr Khan said that ever since his ouster in April 2022, the country had been lagging in all fields except in “software development” — a reference to the practice of forcing PTI leaders to change their loyalties.

“They park a Vigo vehicle in front of a politician’s house and his software is updated. Those who refuse to hold press conferences are implicated in cases,” he said.

Mr Khan feared that Pakistan was being turned into Myanmar, as the state machinery was allegedly being used to suppress dissenting voices.

A PTI spokesperson also pointed out that after India and Afghanistan, the serious deterioration of relations with Iran was worrisome and spoke volumes about the country’s “failed foreign and defence policies”.

He lauded Mr Khan’s leadership during the 2019 Indian airspace violation, claiming that no one would have dared to challenge the integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan if the power was in the hands of a leadership elected by the people.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2024