Pak PM rachets up nuclear war threat over J&K

New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday scaled up the already-shrill Pakistani rhetoric and once again raised the spectre of a nuclear confrontation —  in a piece written for the New York Times — claiming that “two nuclear-armed states” may “get ever closer to a direct military confrontation”. The Pakistan PM sought to engage in scare-mongering, saying, “It is imperative that the international community think beyond trade and business advantages. World War II happened because of appeasement at Munich. A similar threat looms over the world again, but this time under the nuclear shadow.” He also claimed dialogue can start only when “India reverses its illegal annexation of Kashmir, ends the curfew and lockdown, and withdraws its troops to the barracks”. Not surprisingly, the Pakistani PM did not write a single word on the cross-border terrorism that Pakistan has been sponsoring for the past few decades, not just against India but also against Islamabad’s western neighbour Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, in New Delhi, Pakistan high commission (PHC) officials and staffers along with their children staging a march within the HC premises to mark their “solidarity” with the Kashmir issue and raising slogans. In another provocation, Acting High commissioner Syed Haider Shah said Pakistan would “continue to extend full diplomatic, political and moral support until they get all their rights including the right to self determination”.

In a statement, the PHC said, “A walk was held to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people, in accordance with the directions of Pakistan’s government, at the Pakistan high commission, New Delhi today on Friday August 30, 2019.”

It may be recalled that while lashing out at statements on the Kashmir issue from various Pakistani politicians and prominent figures including exhortations for “jehad”, India had on Thursday strongly condemned these as “irresponsible” and “intended to project an alarmist situation”, even as it asked Pakistan to “behave like a normal neighbour”. Indian government sources had said that having faced diplomatic defeat, Islamabad was resorting to “hashtag warfare (on the Internet and social media platforms)”, even as India’s top-most priority was to ensure that “not a single life was lost”. New Delhi had said the world had seen through Pakistan’s tactics that were based on “lies and deception”.  

“If the world does nothing to stop the Indian assault on Kashmir and its people, there will be consequences for the whole world as two nuclear-armed states get ever closer to a direct military confrontation,” Mr. Khan claimed. In his piece, the Pakistan PM also desperately sought to link the Indian political leadership and the RSS with Nazi Germany, in what has now become a familiar Pakistani tactic.

Meanwhile, in New Delhi, Pakistan high commission (PHC) officials and staffers along with their children staging a march within the HC premises to mark their “solidarity” with the Kashmir issue and raising slogans. In another provocation, Acting High commissioner Syed Haider Shah said Pakistan would “continue to extend full diplomatic, political and moral support until they get all their rights including the right to self determination”.

This comes after India earlier this month announced bifurcation of its J&K State into two union territories and also revoked Article 370 that had granted special status to the state.

In a statement, the PHC said, “A walk was held to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people, in accordance with the directions of Pakistan’s government, at the Pakistan high commission, New Delhi today on Friday August 30, 2019. All the diplomats, staff members, families and children walked from the Fatimah Jinnah Street till the Chancery’s fountain. The children held banners, and raised slogans with national zeal and fervour to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people.”

The PHC added, “Acting High commissioner Syed Haider Shah addressed the participants at the occasion. In his remarks he said, ‘the broader family of the Pakistan High Commission has assembled here to express solidarity with our Kashmiri brothers and sisters’. He stated that this peaceful demonstration is also a message for the international community to fulfill their promises that they had made to the Kashmiri people. The Acting High Commissioner further said that we want to assure our Kashmiri brothers and sisters that in this difficult hour Pakistan stands united with them, and that Pakistan would continue to extend full diplomatic, political and moral support until they get all their rights including the right to self determination.”