Indian army chief’s statement aims at diverting attention from internal turmoil: DG ISPR

RAWALPINDI (92 News) – DG ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor has said that the statement of Indian army chief is an effort to divert attention from the ongoing internal turmoil. Reacting to the misleading statement of the Indian army chief, he said: “Statements by the Indian COAS to undertake military action across the Line of Control (LOC) are routine rhetoric for domestic audiences to get out of ongoing internal turmoil.” The DG ISPR said that the Pakistan armed forces are fully prepared to respond to any act of Indian aggression. Earlier on Saturday, the new Indian army chief, Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, said that his force would take steps to take control of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) if the Indian government gave such an order. He also said India and China would set up a hot line between senior military commanders to ensure better communication to maintain peace and stability along their common borders. Recalling that a 1994 resolution of the Indian parliament had stated that the entire disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir belonged to India, Gen Naravane said: “There is a parliamentary resolution that entire Jammu and Kashmir is part of India. If parliament wants that area (AJK) should be taken we will definitely do so and appropriate action will be taken accordingly.” On Feb 26, 2019, Indian fighter jets had violated Pakistan’s airspace in the dead of the night, but dropped their payloads at an abandoned mountainous region of Balakot while fleeing after Pakistan scrambled its warplanes. The next morning, Pakistan Air Force delivered a bitter reprisal in the IOJ&K when its jets carried out air strikes in broad daylight next to Indian military targets deep inside the occupied territory, triggering an air battle in which two Indian fighter aircraft were shot down and the pilot of one them was captured – only to be released later as a “goodwill gesture”.