Pakistan Parliament condemns ‘Indian aggression’

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Islamabad, The Pakistan Parliament on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution strongly condemning as “aggression” India’s strikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in the country earlier this week.

The resolution was presented by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who had earlier in the day said that he won’t be attending the Organisation of Islamic Summit Cooperation meet in the United Arab Emirates due to the presence of his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj at the event, Geo News reported.

Tensions spiked between two countries after the Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kasmir’s Pulwama on February 14.

India, in retaliation, bombed the JeM’s biggest training camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday and killed a large number of terrorists. This was followed by Pakistan seizing Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman after his MIG-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down during a dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC) on Wednesday.

The resolution said: “The joint session of the Parliament strongly condemns the blatant Indian aggression on February 26 and 27 which is completely in violation of the United Nations charter, international law and inter-state laws.”

It rejected India’s “self-serving and fictitious claims of having destroyed alleged terrorist camps and caused heavy casualties”.

The resolution condemned India’s “baseless allegations” in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack which were “politically motivated” and recalled the statements of all political parties and the Prime Minister offering Pakistan’s assistance to India after the incident.

India’s “reckless actions impaired the peace and stability of the region”, the resolution read, while it endorsed the National Security Committee’s decision to respond to Indian aggression at a “time and place of its own choice”.

It reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to respond effectively in a “befitting manner” to India’s “aggression” and called upon the international community, especially the UNSC, to condemn India’s “highly irresponsible act endangering peace and stability” in the region.