Islamabad: Pakistan caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, on Monday, again targeted India for violence in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and added "Islamabad is ready to face any attack from New Delhi". Kakar, while addressing a hall on so-called Kashmir Day-- a day dedicated to pray for what the Pakistani government claimed as the "Kashmiri freedom movement's success"-- said, "Indian rulers are also claiming Gilgit-Baltistan, if India has any desire to attack Pakistan, we are ready for it." His provocative statement came just three days before the country is scheduled to held the general elections.
Pakistan forces ready to respond to any aggression: Army chief
Besides, caretaker Prime Minister, Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir said any aggression or violation of the country's territorial sovereignty will be responded to with full national resolve and military might. “Pakistan Army is well versed with the full threat spectrum and is perpetually ready to respond effectively,” Munir said, accusing India of targeting individuals in his country. During his visit to the Sarian Sector of Line of Control, he was briefed about the latest situation along the LOC.
Pakistan had last month claimed that it had "credible evidence" of links between what it called "Indian agents" to the assassination of two Pakistani terrorists associated with the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
India responds to Pakistan's claims
India dismissed as "false and malicious" propaganda Pakistan's allegations linking Indian agents to the assassination of two Pakistani terrorists in Sialkot and Rawalkot last year. "It is Pakistan's latest attempt at peddling false and malicious anti-India propaganda," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi. He said Pakistan will "reap what it sows", adding "to blame others for its misdeeds can neither be a justification nor a solution."
General Munir earlier in the day accompanied caretaker Prime Minister and the so-called Prime Minister of Kashmir Anwarul Haq during a visit to Muzaffarabad on the occasion of "Kashmir Day" which Pakistan observes on February 5 every year. Interestingly, the visit came on the same day when India allocated a $13 billion budget to Jammu and Kashmir-- more than four times what Pakistan sought from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a bailout package.
(With inputs from agency)
