KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi on Friday said that Pakistan was exercising restraint but if India continues the “provocations” that it has been engaged in then the country was ready to respond with “all the capabilities in its command”.
Maleeha Lodhi met with New Zealand’s UN Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen on Thursday, who is president of the 15-member Security Council for September.
The envoy asked the president of the United Nations Security Council to informally brief the body on the country’s escalating tension with neighbouring India and said she will discuss it with UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
“I brought to his attention the dangerous situation that is building up in our region as a result of Indian provocation,” Lodhi said. “Our call to the international community is avert a crisis before there is one.”
“In the early hours of Thursday, what we saw was cross-border shelling, mortar fire as well as small arms fire. We have captured an Indian soldier who was trying to cross, and two of our soldiers have been killed and martyred in this kind of cross-border shelling. But there was no surgical strike inside territory controlled by Pakistan, Maleeha categorically stated.
Dr Maleeha Lodhi in an interview to an Arab TV said, “India was trying to provoke crisis with Pakistan in an attempt to divert attention from the Kashmir issue.”
“Indian forces have killed more than 100 Kashmiris while over 150 lost their eye sight due to use of pellet guns by the Indian army,” she said.
The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) threat and boycott of SAARC is all “aimed at deflecting attention from India’s grave violation of human rights in the Held Kashmir”, Maleeha Lodhi said.
“We think India’s action is hugely irresponsible and we think the international community should urge restraint upon India. Pakistan is showing maximum restraint but there are limits to our restraint if India continues with provocations,” Lodhi said. “Right now our effort is just to tell everyone this is what’s happened so far, watch this space because it is a very dangerous space.”
