Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa is to chair a Corps Commanders Conference in Rawalpindi on Tuesday to discuss the situation along the LOC and the developments in Jammu and Kashmir even as a joint session of Parliament has been summoned by President Arif Alvi.
The Corps Commanders Conference comes a day after the Indian government abolished Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed the Indian government’s move, saying that Jammu and Kashmir was an “internationally recognised disputed territory”.
“As the party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps,” it said.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said there was a “threat of genocide and ethnic cleansing in occupied Kashmir” — a Pakistani euphemism for Indian Jammu and Kashmir — after India revoked Article 370.
He further said, “Pakistan would appeal to the United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, friendly countries and human rights organisations not to remain silent on the issue”.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry also reacted to the development, saying India was trying “to turn Kashmir into another Palestine” and that Islamabad “must be ready to fight if a war is imposed”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan skipped the joint session to hold a discussion on Kashmir, leading to a ruckus in Parliament as opposition objected to his absence.
Following the developments, the Pakistan government condemned the abrogation of Article 370 saying that it will “exercise all possible options to counter it”.
Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of the OIC Kashmir-focused wing has been called in Jeddah on Tuesday to discuss the Kashmir situation.
The session will be attended by representatives from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and other member countries, Geo TV reported.
(With IANS inputs)