Opposition demands to summon joint parliamentary session to respond Indian LoC violation

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Syed Khursheed Shah has demanded to summon a joint parliamentary session to deliver a strong message to India.

During his speech on Tuesday in National Assembly, Shah said that we are in a state of war and we need to sit together and adding that India wants to exploit our internal differences but we are united against any aggression.

Shah added that the opposition is ready to stand on the border front and Pakistanis are ready to sacrifice their lives.

Similarly, former defence minister Khawaja Asif also took to the floor and seconded Shah’s demand for a joint parliamentary session.

Khawaja also called on all parties to “be united” and to show solidarity with the armed forces. “Our country, our sovereignty and our integrity are being threatened,” Asif said.

“It is not the time for political point-scoring and we should put aside our differences and unite the entire nation,” he added. “We are standing behind our armed forces like an iron wall.”

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan announced a joint parliamentary session has been summoned tomorrow in the wake of India’s violation of the Line of Control (LoC).

He also criticized the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for inviting Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj as a “guest of honour” at the inaugural session of the foreign ministers’ conclave in Abu Dhabi next month, and adding that “Pakistan should boycott the OIC meeting.”

“It is an insult that our enemy is being invited as a guest of honour when Kashmiris are facing bloodshed,” he stated.

PPP leader and former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar also slammed the OIC for inviting Swaraj as “guest of honour”. “We have to show the world that this nation knows how to protect itself and the politicians of this nation know how to stand together,” she added.

Asad Mehmood joined the chorus of politicians demanding the boycott of OIC and said, “It is wrong to invite the Indian foreign minister. Pakistan should speak to OIC and boycott the meeting.”

Indian military aircraft violated the LoC as they “intruded” from the Muzaffarabad sector and were forced to return owing to the timely response of the Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said early Tuesday.

“Indian aircraft intrusion across LoC in Muzafarabad Sector within AJK was 3-4 miles. Under forced hasty withdrawal aircraft released payload which had free fall in open area. No infrastructure got hit, no casualties. Technical details and other important information to follow,” Major General Ghafoor wrote on Twitter.

The incursion into the Pakistani air space follows a series of threats by Indian political and military leadership following the attack on an Indian Army convoy at Pulwama by a local youth, in reaction to the oppression unleashed by the occupational forces.