Pakistan Reacts to Rajnath Singh’s Warning on Kargil War Anniversary

Pakistan has condemned the Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh for his warning that Indian forces won’t hesitate in “crossing the Line of Control (LoC) in pursuit of safeguarding New Delhi’s interests.

Singh’s remarks were made during an address to the Indian troops at the Kargil War Memorial in Dras, Ladakh, on Wednesday.

A statement by the Pakistan government on Thursday described Singh’s remarks as “provocative”.

“Such belligerent rhetoric threatens regional peace and stability in South Asia. We urge India to exercise caution and refrain from jingoistic statements," according to the statement by the External Publicity Wing.

The Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan in 1999 had ended with Indian forces gaining control over strategic heights in the border region of Kargil, which had been occupied by militants which New Delhi says were backed by Pakistani forces.

“Despite the adversary having tactical military advantage during the war, our forces displayed unmatched bravery and skill to push them back and reclaim our land. With the victory, India sent a message to Pakistan and the world that our military will not back down at any cost if the nation’s interests are harmed,” Singh told the Indian troops in Dras, as per the Indian Defense Ministry.

Political Affairs

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Singh’s Statement Shows India’s ‘Hostility’ Towards Pakistan, Islamabad Says

Singh’s remarks also drew reproach from the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, which said that they reflected New Delhi’s “hostility” towards Pakistan.

“Pakistan is fully capable of defending itself against any aggression, as demonstrated in its forceful response to India’s misadventure in February 2019,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told a media briefing in Islamabad on Thursday.

She was referring to the dogfight between India’s MiG-29 fighter jet and Pakistan’s F-16 jet, which New Delhi said resulted in the downing of the Pakistani fighter plane.

The dogfight had erupted a day after Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets carried out a cross-border operation to strike terrorist launchpads in Pakistan.

Baloch said that this wasn’t the first time that the Indian political leadership and senior military officials made “highly irresponsible and delusional remarks” about Pakistan-administered Kashmir. New Delhi claims sovereignty over the entire Jammu and Kashmir region and views the Pakistan-administered areas as occupied.

“They routinely engage in jingoistic rhetoric by stoking hyper-nationalism and anti-Pakistan sentiment. This practice of dragging Pakistan into Indian political discourse must end,” Baloch remarked.

She reiterated Islamabad’s stance on Jammu and Kashmir being an “international dispute” and said that relevant UN Security Council provisions on the matter should be implemented.

Pakistan has controlled a part of Kashmir since 1948 in the wake of then then ruler of Jammu and Kashmir deciding to join India instead of Islamabad, a year after the subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan by the British imperialists.

The Indian Parliament has unanimously passed a resolution urging Pakistan to vacate the territory that has been “under illegal and forcible occupation”.