FO rejects Indian army chief’s terror allegation
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday rejected Indian Army Chief Gen M.M. Naravane’s terror allegation as a diversionary gimmick of the rights abuser.
At the weekly media briefing, FO spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said Gen Naravane’s statement was “irresponsible, spurious and totally false”.
She said that the Indian army chief’s allegations were meant to divert global and domestic attention from “India’s state-terrorism and egregious human rights violations and clamping of fundamental freedoms in IOJ&K, particularly post August 5, 2019”.
Gen Naravane, who was on a two-day visit to India-occupied Kashmir, had earlier on Friday accused Pakistan of “exporting terrorism” even during the Covid-19 pandemic. He was quoted by Indian media as having said: “While we are busy not only helping our own citizens but the rest of the world by sending medical teams and exporting medicines, on the other hand, Pakistan is only exporting terror. This doesn’t augur well.”
India has over the past week committed a number of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary in which an infant was killed and several others were seriously injured.
The FO spokesperson said Indian troops had committed over 765 ceasefire violations, resulting in killing of three civilians as well as serious injuries to 54 innocent civilians, in three-and-a-half months this year. In 2019, India had violated ceasefire 3,351 times.
Pakistan, she noted, had responded to Indian belligerence in a firm and responsible manner, while exercising maximum restraint. “Pakistan has no desire to escalate the situation,” she underscored and recalled that the international community had been repeatedly urged to take notice of Indian provocations. “Our armed forces remain ready to defend the motherland against any threat.”
Responding to a question about the US State Department’s approval of missiles sale to India, Ms Farooqui said it was a disturbing development that could cause further instability in the region. “Pakistan has articulated its concerns regarding the sale of sophisticated weapons to India which would further destabilise the region. Pakistan has alerted the international community many times about India’s aggressive designs not only towards Pakistan but also towards other neighboring countries in South Asia,” she added.
The US Department of State had on April 13 cleared the possible sale of 10 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II air-launched missiles and 16 MK-54 lightweight torpedoes and related equipment for Indian Navy’s aircraft. The sale is still subject to congressional approval.
IAEA equipment
The FO spokesperson said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was providing Pakistan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine, biohazard safety cabinets, testing kits and related consumables to help fight the novel coronavirus through the use of a nuclear derived machine.
She said this equipment would augment Pakistan’s national capacity to conduct Covid-19 tests which were crucial in containing the spread of the disease.
The spokesperson voiced support for World Health Organisation’s (WHO) work, but avoided denouncing the US move to stop funding of the UN body for international public health. “WHO is at the forefront of international efforts to contain the pandemic. The virus knows no borders. The international community will have to work together in a coordinated manner to defeat the coronavirus,” she said when asked to comment on the US move.
US President Donald Trump had on Tuesday ordered stopping of funds for WHO and accused the top health body of “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus”.
The United States is WHO’s top funds contributor. The Trump administration’s decision has been widely condemned as a dangerous and reckless action during a pandemic. Pakistan, which is receiving US assistance for dealing with Covid-19, has been playing neutral in this controversy.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi too stayed away from criticism of the US action at his presser on Thursday and only called for a review of the decision.
The US Embassy said in a statement that American people were paying more than $8 million to meet Pakistan’s top priority needs in the fight against Covid-19.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2020