Will give befitting response if India resorts to misadventure: DG ISPR

Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif conducted his maiden press conference on Tuesday, stressing that if India tried any misadventures, then Pakistan Army will give a befitting response.

He also condemned what he called 56 ceasefire violations by the neighbour along the Line of Control (LoC).

The DG ISPR said “if, due to any miscalculation and misunderstanding, India tries to conspire against Pakistan, then we will give a befitting reply. There should be no doubt about it.”

He recalled that Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir visited the Line of Control as soon as he was appointed to show the army’s resolve to defend Pakistan.

“If required, we can take this battle to the enemy’s territory as well,” he said, adding that "India's propaganda against Pakistan continues".

On the other hand, Maj-Gen Sharif said, Pakistan had allowed the United Nation’s observers complete access to the LoC. “But India has not done so. They have not given them access or liberty of action.”

“The situation at the LoC has remained relatively peaceful after the 2003 ceasefire agreement,” he said.

He added that the Pakistan Army had blown down six quadcopters, asserting that the “Pakistan Army is prepared to [deal with] any such attempts by India”.

This is Maj Gen Ahmed Sharif’s first press conference since his appointment as head of the military’s media affairs wing in December last year.

'No no-go area in Pakistan'

The DG ISPR said there are no “no-go areas” in the country due to the efforts of the Army, adding that the armed forces conducted 8,000 operations against terrorists.

He stated that the culprit of terrorist attack on the Peshawar mosque in January 2023 belonged to Afghanistan and “he delayed the suicide blast two times due to low attendance in the mosque. He went ahead with it on the third time”.

He further said that the miscreants of the attack on Karachi Police headquarters hailed from Lakki Marwat and South Waziristan.

He assured that armed forces remained focused on ensuring border security in Pakistan. “In this regard, Pakistan’s forces have taken appreciable measures, tracked down terrorist networks and we continue to do so.”

The DG ISPR said linkages between the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch militant groups were also proven in terrorism incidents.

Sharing further details, he said 436 terrorist attacks had taken place in the country during the ongoing year, during which 293 people were martyred and 521 injured.

In KP, he said, 192 people were martyred and 330 injured while 80 were martyred and 170 injured in Balochistan.

“Illegal weapons and ammunition have been obtained from them (terrorists) … and facilitators and planners involved in terrorism incidents have also been arrested and exposed,” he said.

“Socio-economic uplift work is going on in former terrorist-hit areas of Pakistan,” he said. “Security situation in Balochistan has improved now compared to a few years earlier.”

Meanwhile, the Reko Diq project was turning out to be an encouraging development for Balochistan.

"No individual or group will be allowed to take the law into their own hands," he stressed. "Attempts to sabotage CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) and other projects are being thwarted. All projects are being provided with complete security.

"The journey towards permanent peace has begun," he said.