After the suspension of India of the Treaty of the Water of the Indo and a series of hostile measures after the deadly attack in the Indian area of Jammu and Kashmir (Iiojk) Pahalgam, the Minister of Defense, Khawaja Asif, announced Wednesday that a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) will be held on Thursday under the president of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Speaking to a private news channel, Asif said: “The National Security Committee will decide an appropriate response to the steps of India.” He said that India could not unilaterally suspend the treaty, and pointed out that the World Bank is also a key interested party in the agreement.
“According to the treaty, India is not in a position to make a decision alone,” said Asif, warning that Pakistan is totally able to respond to provocations, as demonstrated during the episode of Abhinandan in 2019. “If India takes extreme steps under internal pressure, we are prepared,” he said.
In addition, he dismissed India’s accusations about Pakistani participation in the Pahalgam incident, calling them “inappropriate.”
Speaking on another television channel, Asif reiterated Pakistan’s constant sentence for terrorism and said it has been one of the worst victims of the threat. “There should be no ambiguity that we strongly condemn terrorism,” he said, while added that the possibility of a false flag operation could not be ruled out.
Asif also accused India of sponsoring terrorist activities in Baluchistan, house the separatists and supporting Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) through their consulates in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ishaq Dar, echoed the feelings of Asif, describing India’s ads as “inappropriate and lacking seriousness” and promised an “adequate response.” “The NSC will issue an integral response tomorrow,” said Dar about the same program, emphasizing that India had not provided credible evidence to link Pakistan with the attack.
Dar accused New Delhi of using Pakistan as an scapegoat for his internal failures. “To blame others without evidence is not justified,” he said.
In addition, the Senator of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Irfan Siddiqui described Pahalgam’s incident as a supposedly false flag operation “orchestrated by the Indian army.”
Siddiqui pointed out the patron of India to organize such incidents during sensitive international moments. “India has occupied Kashmir and has continually involved in acts of terrorism within Pakistan,” he said, added that the Pakistani authorities had arrested Indian spies in the past.
