Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday vowed to become the voice of Kashmir and raise the issue at every global forum, including the United Nations, as he questioned the silence of the international community on the situation in the region.
Addressing a special session of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's (PoK) Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad, Khan said that if a war breaks out between Pakistan and India, the world community will be responsible.
Khan, who was in Muzaffarabad to observe Pakistan's Independence Day in solidarity with the Kashmiris after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, termed the Indian move as a 'strategic blunder'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has 'committed a strategic blunder, he has played his last card. It will cost a lot to Modi and the BJP. Because they have internationalised the issue of Kashmir', Khan said.
"The world's eye is on Kashmir and on Pakistan...I will be the ambassador who raises Kashmir's voice at every international forum," he said.
Prime Minister Modi on August 8 defended the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir's special status as a historic step to usher in a 'new era'.
He said Article 370 has yielded nothing but separatism, corruption, family rule and was used by Pakistan as a tool to spread terror in the border state.
Modi promised all round development, early and transparent elections and an end to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Modi promised all round development, early and transparent elections and an end to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Whatever was done during the curfew by India, we will tell the international community that you are responsible. Whichever forum we get, I will be the ambassador and bring up Kashmir at every forum," Khan said.
Prime Minister Khan said Pakistan had solid information that India was planning some actions in Kashmir and warned that his battle-hardened army was ready to give a befitting response to any aggression.
"Our information is that a plan more dangerous than post-Pulwama...has been prepared by India to take focus (away) from Kashmir situation. My message to Modi is that you take action and we will give a matching response," he said.
"Every brick will be countered with a stone," Khan said. "We will respond to whatever you do, we will go till the end...If you are thinking to teach us lesson, then listen carefully time has come that we will teach you a lesson," he added.
"Our message to international organisations that were formed to prevent wars is that if this war takes place, you will be responsible," Khan said.
It is not the first time that Khan has spoken about the possibility of war with India.
Last week, addressing a joint session of Pakistan's parliament, Khan expressed apprehension that Pulwama-like attacks can follow the revocation of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir, which could trigger a conventional war between Pakistan and India.
On Khan's comments that India was trying to create a war-like situation with his country, the MEA spokesman in New Delhi last week said Islamabad was trying to project a panic situation to the international community.
"However, the international community does not think there is a war like situation. It is a ploy to deflect attention...It is time for Pakistan to see the new reality and stop interfering in internal matters of India," he said.
The spokesman said time has come for Pakistan to accept the new reality and stop interfering in India's internal affairs.
Khan claimed that the whole world, including the entire Muslim population in the world, was looking towards the United Nations.
"You will see the numbers in which the public will come out during the United Nations General Assembly in September," he said, referring to the upcoming annual session of the the world body.
Pakistan has sought an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss India's move to revoke the special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday that he sent a formal letter to the president of the UNSC through Permanent Representative Maleha Lodhi to convene the meeting.
Qureshi's statement came two days after Russia became the first UNSC member to back India's move on Jammu and Kashmir, saying that the changes in the status are within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
The United States has also maintained a neutral stand on the issue, saying that there is no change in its policy on Kashmir as it called on India and Pakistan to maintain restraint and hold direct dialogue to resolve their differences.
China, the all-weather ally of Pakistan, has objected to the formation of Ladakh as Union Territory by India. However, at the same time, Beijing has told Qureshi that it regarded both India and Pakistan as ‘friendly neighbours’ and wants them to resolve the Kashmir issue through United Nations resolutions and the Simla agreement.
Reality of Kashmir cannot be changed by India: Pak Army chief
Needling India, Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday said the reality of Kashmir was neither changed by an ‘illegal piece of paper’ in 1947 nor by any action ‘now or in future’.
"There can never be a compromise on Kashmir," Gen Bajwa said in his Independence Day message to the nation, according to a tweet by the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
"Reality of Kashmir was neither changed by an illegal piece of paper in 1947 nor will any other do it now or in future," he said, apparently refereing to Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India and rejecting India's recent revocation of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir.
India has said that the time has come for Pakistan to accept the new reality and stop interfering in the country's internal affairs.
Gen Bajwa said the Pakistan Army is "fully alive to the sanctity of Jammu & Kashmir" and will remain prepared to perform its part in line with its national duty for the cause of Kashmir.
