During a visit to the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the disputed Kashmir region, which is claimed by both Pakistan and neighboring India, Pakistan’s newly appointed army chief stated that the military was prepared to defend “every inch of our motherland” in the event of an attack.
According to a statement from the military’s media wing, General Asim Munir said on Saturday, “Let me make it categorically clear, Pakistan’s armed forces are ever ready, not only to defend every inch of our motherland but to take the fight back to the enemy if ever war is imposed on us.”
Indian state will never be successful in carrying out her evil plans.
The visit, which came less than a week after General Munir assumed command of Pakistan’s powerful military, was one of his strongest public statements regarding India, his archrival, since assuming command.
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Ceasefire breach accusations
The two nuclear powers of South Asia have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, each of which claims the entire region but only controls a portion of it.
Shelling and firing across the Line of Control (LoC), a 740-kilometer de facto border that divides Kashmir, is a common accusation made by both sides of breaking a ceasefire agreement signed in 2003.
The LoC has been mostly quiet since early 2021 when India and Pakistan renewed their ceasefire agreement.
Pakistan’s army chief will be crucial in preventing conflict with India on the country’s eastern border and preventing friction with Afghanistan on the country’s western border.
Heavily militarised region
Since the birth of Pakistan and India and the end of British rule over the subcontinent 75 years ago, both Pakistan and India have claimed Kashmir in its entirety.
Since 1989, rebels have been fighting New Delhi’s rule in the part of Kashmir that is under India’s administration. The rebels’ goal of unifying the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent nation, is supported by the majority of Muslim Kashmiris.
India opposes holding an UN-backed plebiscite in the Himalayas because it considers them to be an “integral part” of its country. Pakistan sees Kashmir as the “jugular vein” of partition and an unfinished business.
Kashmir, which is administered by India and remains one of the most militarized regions in the world, is home to more than 500,000 Indian troops.
In decades of conflict, tens of thousands, mostly civilians, have died.
Source: Reuters
