Ishaaq Dar says Pakistan won't attack India first but his troops continue to open fire along LoC

The Indian Army officials have said that Pakistani troops engaged in unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) on Wednesday, prompting the Indian Army to 'respond effectively'. The firings were reported from the Pargwal sector along the IB in the Jammu district and Sunderbani and Naushera sectors in the Rajouri district.

 

"On the night of April 29-30, Pakistan Army posts initiated unprovoked small-arms fire across the Line of Control opposite the Naushera, Sunderbani, and Akhnoor sectors in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir,"  a defence spokesperson in Jammu said. "The Indian Army troops responded swiftly and proportionately," the spokesperson added.

 

Small-arm fires were also reported across the LoC in Baramulla and Kupwara and across the IB in Pargwal. This marked the sixth consecutive night of ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC, amidst heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad following a recent terror attack in Pahalgam. 

 

Interestingly, this comes as Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar declared in the country's Senate that Pakistan will not strike India first. But, it reserves the right to retaliate, Dar said. "Pakis­tan would pay back India in the same coin, but it would not initiate an attack," he said.  

 

Dar added that he believed Pahalgam was a drama staged to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty. “What we do say with full confidence is that Pakistan has nothing to do with this [attack]," Dar said, adding that there was, however, no evidence that it was a false-flag operation. 

 

He reiterated that any meddling with Pakistani waters by India will not be tolerated at any cost and will be taken as an act of war. 

India