Nasheman News : In an obvious attack on Pakistan, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that states which shelter and fund terrorists must be told to dismantle terror camps on their soil.

“If we want to save humanity, then we must tell the states whioh provide shelter and funding to terrorists to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing funding and shelter to terror organisations based in that country,” she said.

Sushma Swaraj is attending the conference as a “Guest of Honour” from India. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi kept away from the OIC meet due to her presence.

Sushma Swaraj’s remarks, without naming Pakistan, came three days after India targeted a training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pakistan following the Pulwama suicide bombing in Kashmir which killed 40 CRPF personnel. 

The Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Sushma Swaraj said the menace of terror cannot be defeated solely through “military, intelligence or diplomatic” means but must be won by “strength of our values and message of religion”. 

“This is not a clash of civilization and culture but a contest between ideas and ideals. 

“Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed,” she said. 

The Minister also spoke about India’s ancient civilizational values, its ethos of pluralism and its eternal message of peace.

“God is one but learned men describe Him in many ways,” she said. 

Nasheman News :  The Islamabad High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed against the release of Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was captured by Pakistan two days earlier.

The pilot was seized after his MIG-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down during a dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC).

Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case earlier in the day ahead of the pilot’s release, Samaa TV reported. 

Justice Minallah told the petitioner the decision to release the pilot was made by Prime Minister Imran Khan during a Parliament session on Thursday and no parliamentarian raised any objections.

“So this is a policy matter and we must respect Parliament,” the judge said.

Khan had announced that Pakistan will release the pilot as a “gesture of goodwill”. 

BJP President Amit Shah Friday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not condemning the Pulwama terror attack and asked how can India trust him. 

Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Shah said the Modi government has been able to create “fear” in the minds of those behind terrorism with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists.

“I believe the track record of our government has been the best in dealing with terror since Independence… Maximum number of terrorists have been eliminated under BJP government led by Modi,” he said. 

Questioning Khan’s silence on the Pulwama attack, he said, “The Pakistan PM should have criticised the Pulwama attacks at least once. How can we expect anything from him, or trust him. Maybe the situation is not in his control. At least he could have done lip service”. 

40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying security forces. 

The BJP President also said that the return of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was a diplomatic victory.

“Creating situation for return of pilot Abhinandan in such a short span of time is our diplomatic victory,” he said.

Varthaman’s MiG 21 was shot and he bailed out after bringing down one Pakistani F-16 fighter during a dogfight to repel a Pakistani attack on Wednesday morning. He has been in Pakistan since then. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in Parliament on Thursday that Varthaman would be released on Friday as a “peace gesture”.

Coming down hard on Opposition parties which alleged the government was “politicising” the sacrifices of the armed forces, Shah said their joint resolution post the air strikes gave ammunition to Pakistan.

“The opposition’s accusation against the BJP that it was politicising the sacrifices of our forces has given happiness to Pakistan,” Shah said. 

“The message has gone that now it is the Modi govt at the helm which is resolute in implementing its policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and has the political will to act,” he said.

Criticising former PM Manmohan Singh’s call for restraint to India and Pakistan, Shah asked how he could compare a country, which has been sponsoring terrorism, with India. 

He also criticised Singh for his government’s “lack of response” after the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.

“Now with its action against Pakistan-based terrorists Modi government has been able to create fear in the minds of those behind terrorism that they will face grave consequences for their actions.

PTI

Nasheman News : Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman reached the Pakistani side of the border on Friday evening from Lahore ahead of his release from Pakistani captivity.

Informed sources said that Abhinandan was accompanied by Indian High Commission officials from Islamabad. He will enter India after completing formalities at Wagah.

The IAF pilot was captured in Pakistan on February 27 after his MIG-21 Bison fighter jet was shot down during a dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC).

Masood Azhar is “unwell”, so much that he “can’t even leave his house”, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in an interview.

This is the first official acknowledgement of India’s allegation that Masood Azhar operates from Pakistan
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Terror mastermind Masood Azhar, whose Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out the Pulwama attack in which 40 Indian soldiers were killed, is in Pakistan, its Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has confirmed. This is the first official acknowledgement of India’s allegation that Masood Azhar operates from Pakistan.  

Masood Azhar is “unwell”, so much that he “can’t even leave his house”, Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

“He is in Pakistan, according to my information. He is very unwell. He is unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house because he is really unwell. That’s the information I have,” the Pakistani Foreign Minister said.

Asked why not arrest him, “ill or not”, given India’s allegations of his role in terror attacks, Mr Qureshi repeated Pakistan’s much-repeated line of “evidence” that stands legal scrutiny.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s admission is significant at a time global pressure is building on Pakistan to act against terror groups operating on its soil (File Photo)

“If they (India) give us evidence which is acceptable to the courts of Pakistan – after all we will have to justify, they will go to court – and if they have solid, inalienable evidence, share it with us so that we can convince the people and convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan,” said the minister.

“We need to satisfy the legal process,” he said.

India has been pushing for the UN listing of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, a move torpedoed multiple times by China, which calls itself an all-weather ally of Pakistan.

Masood Azhar’s Jaish-e-Mohammed was behind the 2001 attack on Parliament, the Pathankot air force base attack of 2016, the attack on an army camp in Kashmir’s Uri in 2016 and the suicide attack in Pulwama in which over 40 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers were killed on February 14.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s announcement that pilot Abhinandan Varthaman would be released cleared the way for de-escalation (File Photo)

Amid grief and anger over the Pulwama terror attack, India renewed its call for a UN global terrorist tag on Masood Azhar. On Tuesday, India sent fighter planes to Pakistan for the first time in nearly 50 years, to target a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror training facility in Balakot. Pakistan’s subsequent attempt at airstrikes targeting Indian military facilities across the Line of Control led to the worst escalation between the neighbours in decades. Pakistan captured an Indian pilot who had ejected from his falling jet after an aerial duel with one of the Pakistani warplanes trying to target Indian facilities.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s announcement that pilot Abhinandan Varthamanwould be released cleared the way for de-escalation.

India has handed over a dossier to Pakistan with “specific details of Jaish’s complicity in Pulwama terror attack and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan,” officials say. The dossier gives details of the route taken by terrorists from Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr Qureshi’s admission is significant at a time global pressure is building on Pakistan to act against terror groups operating on its soil.

Agencies