The Pakistan Army on Thursday warned India against any acts of misadventure, adding that if such occur it will respond “befittingly”.
The reaction came in response to the Indian army chief’s statement that there is a possibility of an escalation in tensions at the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between Indian and Pakistan.
Pakistan's Armed Forces media wing called Rawat’s statement an attempt to divert the world’s attention from the ongoing protests in India against the Citizenship Law a tweet from the Pakistan Army's official Twitter handle read.
Asif Ghafoor, Pakistan Army spokesperson, aimed at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue and said was typical of India to issue such statements during election periods, but this time it is due to the “ongoing Hindutva triggered fire”.
“Typical India. This time not for Modi elections but to extinguish the ongoing Hindutva triggered fire across India. Ok, try this out again. But do ask IAF. Btw, CDS?” said Ghafoor taking a jibe at India.
He also said that if Pakistan had hit the locked trans-frontier military installation targets this statement would have not been here.
Pakistan's armed forces media wing stated: “Provocative statements and preparations for escalation along LOC by the Indian Army chief appear to be an effort, as usual, to divert world attention from widespread protests in India against the Citizenship Law.”
“Pakistan's Armed Forces shall befittingly respond to any Indian misadventure or aggression.”
"The situation along the Line of Control can escalate at any time. The Indian Army is always ready for an escalation...," Indian Army General Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday.
Several parts of India have been witnessing protests over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, enacted by the federal government, granting citizenship to illegal immigrants from six religious minorities – Hindus, Parsis, Jains, Christians, Buddhists, and Sikhs, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, if they arrived in India prior to 2015 but excluding Muslims.
Protests over the new citizenship law and NRC initially began in the northeastern region of the country, where the general public is protesting, citing ethnicity issues. In other parts of the country, a lot of people and students are protesting against it for being discriminatory against Muslims.