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Pakistan’s Deputy PM Ishaq Dar hailed the terror attackers in Pahalgam as “freedom fighters”, days after 26 people were brutally killed in Kashmir.
Pahalgam terror attack: Pak Deputy CM terms attackers freedom fighters (Photo: AP)
As borders between India and Pakistan boil in the wake of a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, Islamabad’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has described the perpetrators as “freedom fighters”.
Dar, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister of the neighbouring country, said on Thursday, “Those who carried out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam district on April 22 might be freedom fighters”.
His remarks came a day after New Delhi held in abeyance the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in a major diplomatic strike against Islamabad, as a result of the terror attack. The decision was made at the Cabinet Committee for Security meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday evening. India also cancelled all visas issued to Pakistanis, including those here for medical purposes.
Speaking on India’s massive move on the Treaty, Dar said that it was similar to an “act of war”.
“240 million people in Pakistan need water. You cannot stop it. It is tantamount to an act of war. Any suspension or encroachment won’t be accepted,” he said, further threatening a “tit-for-tat” response to India’s attack on Pakistan.
In a similar statement, the Pakistani government has also said that the diversion of waters will be considered an act of war by India.
“Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty and the usurpation of the rights of lower riparians will be considered as an act of war,” a statement released after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led National Security Committee (NSC) held a meeting.
Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif threatened to harm India if Pakistanis were harmed, in a tit-for-tat move.
“We will make them pay through their noses. If our citizens are harmed by India, Indian citizens will not remain safe either. It will be tit-for-tat,” he said earlier.
Terrorists carried out a deadly attack at the popular tourist spot Baisaran meadows on Tuesday (April 22), killing 26 people, most of them tourists. A group called The Resistance Front (TRF), linked to the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the killings.
- Location :
Islamabad, Pakistan
