Political parties vow to stand by armed forces after Indian airstrike

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s political parties on Tuesday vowed to stand by the country’s armed forces and defend the nation following a violation of the country’s airspace by the Indian Air Force — a move which has dramatically escalated tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
Pakistan and India have fought two full-fledged wars in 1965 and 1971 over the disputed Kashmir region, but the issue continues to remain unresolved and is a flash-point between the two countries.
India, on Tuesday, said it had carried out air strikes targeting a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Balakot, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, eliminating a “large number” of terrorists. 
India’s Foreign Secretary, Vijay Gokhale said that a “pre-emptive” strike is carried out on the basis of credible information to prevent further attacks from the JeM group. Pakistan army, however, denies any casualty or damage has taken place.
Hours after the attack, Pakistan’s political parties — at a joint session of the parliament — urged the government and armed forces to give a “befitting response” to India.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Pakistan Peoples Party’s lawmaker Khursheed Shah condemned the Indian aggression and extended full support to the government and the armed forces in this “testing time.”
“We are in a state of war and we should not consider India weak,” he said, adding that “we should hit India first and hit hard to teach it a lesson.”
Expressing full confidence on the preparedness of the armed forces, he said that Pakistan is a peace-loving country but “reserves the right to defend its territorial integrity and dignity.”
“Narendra Modi wants to go to war because of elections,” he said, adding that “if needed, the opposition parties will be at the borders with the armed forces. Pakistan has the ability to dictate India.”
Ties between both the countries have deteriorated after a suicide bombing in the Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir on February 14 which killed more than 40 paramilitary troops. India has accused Pakistan of being involved in the attack, but Islamabad denies complicity.
Vowing to shun political differences, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz legislator, Khawaja Muhammad Asif said the parliament should give a “unified response” to the Indian aggression.
“It is a matter of life and death for the nation. It is the need of the hour that we show solidarity with the army,” he said, adding that “our country, our sovereignty, and our integrity are being threatened”.
He also urged the government to convene a joint session of the parliament to “express our solidarity and support to our soldiers.”
Meanwhile, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal lawmaker, Asad Mahmood said that India was committing atrocities in Kashmir and it wanted to deflect the attention of the international community by resorting to “cheap tactics” such as violation of Pakistan’s airspace.
“We will keep highlighting Indian brutalities in occupied Kashmir at all international forums,” he said.
In a similar vein, Amir Haider Hoti of the Awami National Party said that India has been trying to “stifle the voice of Kashmiris through oppression,” but it will never succeed in its “nefarious designs”.
“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is playing with fire just to save his politics,” he said, adding that “he (Modi) has put the whole region at risk.”
A lawmaker from the ruling party, Ijaz Ahmad Shah, however, urged the opposition parties “not to fall in the trap of Modi” as he was using these antics to get votes in the upcoming polls.
“We should not get incited by Indian aggression,” he said, adding that “we should formulate a comprehensive and well thought-out strategy to thwart Modi’s nefarious designs.”