ISLAMABAD - Pakistan was looking to woo the international powers and neighbours yesterday amid tensions with nuclear armed rival India.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry and Director General Military Operations Sahid Shamshad Mirza held a meeting with ambassadors of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – known as the powerful five - at the Foreign Office seeking their help to ensure calm in the region as India threatened to disrupt the regional peace.
Officials said the envoys were briefed over the deteriorating situation in Kashmir and India’s war-phobia. The meeting came after India claimed it crossed the Line of Control into Pakistan for a ‘surgical strike’. Pakistan immediately rubbished the assertion terming it a cross-LoC firing by India.
The foreign ministry said Pakistan had called upon the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to play their role to ensure maintenance of peace and security in the region.
Aizaz rejected the “false and baseless” Indian claims, the ministry said. “He conveyed serious concerns over the increased Indian aggression and belligerence. He informed the ambassadors that Pakistan remains the major victim of terrorism, including state terrorism,” said the foreign ministry statement.
“He also informed the envoys that the people of Pakistan stand shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces of Pakistan in defending our homeland,” it said.
Briefing the ambassadors about the situation on the LoC, the Director General Military Operations completely rejected the Indian claim of “surgical strikes.”
He said in reality the Indian occupation forces resorted to unprovoked firing at the LoC at multiple points, which led to the death of two Pakistani soldiers. “The armed forces of Pakistan gave a befitting response to the ceasefire violations by India,” General Mirza said.
He also highlighted the troops positions on the LoC and explained the anti-infiltration mechanisms already in place. He spoke about layers of fencing, barbed wires, lighting, border posts, and bunkers on the LoC, which ensure that no infiltration takes place.
Tensions have soared high between the two nuclear-armed neighbours over held Kashmir and an attack on the Indian army's brigade headquarters in Uri, which left 18 Indian soldiers dead.
Earlier, the DGMO and the foreign secretary held a meeting to discuss the situation. The foreign secretary was briefed about the LoC position by General Mirza before the envoys’ briefing.
Speaking to The Nation, former senior diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi said it will take a few days to decide which narration on the LoC incident was true.
“If India’s claims are true, which we believe are false, India will be encouraged but hopefully our narration is true. This will not be good sign for India. They will know Pakistan is prepared for war,” he said.
Qazi said Pakistan was having problems at the diplomatic front with several neighbours going against it and the US also showing a clear tilt towards India.
“The US is pushing for talks but it has more interest in India than Pakistan. They cannot ignore Pakistan but their preference seems India. Our neighbours (like Afghanistan and Iran) are also not trustworthy. On the Indian side, we are closer to war. This all is not a good sign,” he maintained.
Qazi said despite the diplomatic failures, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not prepared to appoint a full-time Foreign Minister. “One can’t understand why he is keeping this slot with himself. We know the political governments are weaker on the foreign policy authority and someone else taken the big decisions but we still need a full-time Foreign Minister,” he said.
The former ambassador said Pakistan will have to improve its ties with the neighbours and get closer to the major powers to emerge as a power in South Asia.
“Our armed forces are strong enough to fight but we should not be thinking of a war. If the world powers intervene, we can settle this issue through negotiations,” he added.
A senior official at the foreign ministry said Pakistan was approaching Iran and Afghanistan to settle differences over ‘petty issues’. “We are in contact with Tehran and Kabul. With Iran, the situation is satisfactory but Afghanistan does have some issues. We are trying to sort them out in this troubled times,” he said.
The official said the diplomats were in touch with other regional countries also to convince them about the excess by India and its anti-Pakistan designs.
Also yesterday, special envoys of the Prime Minister Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar and Alam Dad Laleka were in Beijing to apprise the Chinese government of the deteriorating situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
They met Liu Zhenmin, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. They also held a meeting with Cai Wu, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of CPPCC, the foreign ministry said.
In their meetings with the Chinese leaders, Khusro Bakhtyar presented the genesis of the recent apprising in Kashmir. The special envoys explained that situation in held Kashmir was deteriorating fast and required urgent attention of the international community.
The foreign ministry said the envoys underscored that the United Nations recognized Kashmir as a disputed territory and Pakistan as a legitimate party to the dispute.
“They reaffirmed the support of the Government of Pakistan for the right of the self-determination of the Kashmiri people. Alam Dad Laleka highlighted the humanitarian plight of the Kashmiri people who have been derived their legitimate rights for the last over six decades,” the statement said.
The Chinese side, it said, expressed its concern over the situation in Indian occupied Kashmir.