• FO says that Islamabad’s restricted response reinforces deterrence, warns that Pakistan will have no choice but to answer if India resumes hostilities
• insists that the government remains committed to the high fire
• India’s Minister of Defense points to an aggressive position, calls Strikes a ‘trailer’
• Jaishankar reiterates any conversation will be strictly bilateral
Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday rejected India’s statement that recent military strikes had established a “new norm” in their tense bilateral relations, insisting that respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity remains the only acceptable standard in interstate ties.
The comments of the Shafqat Ali Khan Foreign Ministry spokesman arrived in a high fragile fire agreed on May 10, after the Sindoor operation of India (vermilion, a traditional symbol of marriage used by Hindu women) and the Pakistani response in the codenum bunyanum (iron wall) operation.
Pakistan condemned strikes as a violation of his sovereignty.
“While India propagates the notion of establishing a ‘new normality’ in bilateral relations, our restricted response has reaffirmed that the only acceptable norm is respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Khan said in the information session of the weekly media.
“Pakistan’s effective followers have reinforced the credibility of their deterrence and dissipated any illusions of the conventional superiority of India or their ambitions to impose hegemony in the region,” he added.
The high fire, negotiated with American mediation, has remained for tenuously.
Khan stressed Pakistan’s commitment, saying: “Pakistan, as a responsible state, remains compromised with the high fire and the necessary steps towards regional decallation and stability.”
He warned: “Given the belligerent position of India, we call our international partners who guarantee that India honor their commitments and refrains from greater aggression. If India resumes hostilities, Pakistan will have no choice but to answer.”
On Friday, India Defense Minister Rajnath Singh described attacks against Pakistan as “only a trailer, will show a complete image if necessary,” indicates the preparation of India to increase, according to Indian media.
Tensions were further complicated by China’s announcement to change the name of 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh, a region that India affirms as its own. The Ministry of External Affairs of India described the measure in “vain and absurd”, stating: “Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always continue to be an integral and inalienable part of India.”
The spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan expressed his support for Beijing, saying: “We have noticed this development regarding the renowing of some areas of China within Arunachal Pradesh. Pakistan reiterates his constant support for China on issues of his territorial sovereignty and integrity.”
Singh, in his statements, also urged the International Monetary Fund to reconsider $ 1 billion in help to Pakistan, claiming that he could finance terrorism. “India has constantly maintained a firm and uncompromising position against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said at the Bhuj Air Base.
Khan dismissed Mr. Singh’s statement, declaring: “India that tries to politicize an institution like the IMF talks about its despair and frustration.”
He also criticized the suspension of India of the Indo Water Treaty, a 1960 agreement that governs the shared rivers. “Sustaining Indo’s Water Treaty in suspense is unilateral and illegal,” Khan said. “It is equivalent to an attack against the people of Pakistan and its economy.”
The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, has proposed conversations in a neutral place, but Khan called the media discussions about time and “premature” modalities.
“Professional diplomats are optimistic; we are optimistic people. The government is still optimistic,” said the spokesman.
The Minister of External Affairs of India, S. Jaishankar insisted on Friday in the “strictly bilateral” conversations, indicating resistance to third -party mediation.
Posted in Dawn, May 17, 2025
