India should not misunderstand Pak’s love of peace as its weakness, says president

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s president, Dr

Arif Alvi

, said on Wednesday that Pakistan is a peace-loving country but its policy of peace should not be misunderstood as weakness by India.


Quoting Prophet

Muhammad

, the president said that if war is imposed on Muslims, the last option left with them is the option of “jihad” and “akhirat” (the world of the hereafter). He was addressing a flag-hoisting ceremony at a convention centre in Islamabad.

“Pakistan is a peace-loving country and wants peace in the region. It wants to resolve the issue of Kashmir through negotiations and dialogue. However, India should not misunderstand our policy of peace as our weakness,” the president remarked.

“We do not wish war but we will fully defend ourselves if war is imposed on us. The war will not be limited between the two countries. Its impact will be felt in the whole world,” he said.

“The Indian act of changing the status quo contravenes the Simla Agreement,” Alvi said. He said the presence of 900,000 troops has made Kashmir the highest militarized zone. “Blocking of communication and freedom of expression is a serious violation of human rights of

Kashmiris

,” the president stated.

Separately, Pakistan army chief Gen

Qamar Javed Bajwa

expressed solidarity with people of Kashmir, saying Pakistan will always stand by Kashmiris to counter India’s “hegemonic ambitions”. “There can never be a compromise on Kashmir,” Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor quoted Gen Bajwa as saying in his Independence Day message to the nation.

“The 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, rejecting India’s withdrawal of special status for occupied Kashmir.