Ready for tit-for-tat

2026-02-06 - 22:36

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared on Thursday that Pakistan will respond to India with equal and decisive force, matching any provocation on the very front where it is initiated. Addressing a special session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly held on the Kashmir Solidarity Day, the Prime Minister stated that after its humiliating defeat, India has once again intensified terrorism in Pakistan through its proxies. Regional peace cannot be established until India abandons its aggressive, expansionist and hegemonic ambitions. Similarly, Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir declared that defence forces remained fully prepared to counter both conventional and hybrid threats in an evolving security environment, warning that any act of aggression would be met with a swift and befitting response. The remarks made by the Prime Minister and the CDF on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day reflected the resolve of the civil and the military leadership to go for a tit for tat response in case of any aggression against the country. Their declaration is not without reason as apart from verbal threats, India is also implementing a highly provocative strategy to harm Pakistan’s interests and security. India invaded Pakistan on the pretext of the Pahalgam incident but its own forces are killing defenceless Kashmiris on an almost daily basis just because they are demanding a right which the world pledged to grant them under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Indian atrocities, unabated violations of human rights and Hindutva-driven excesses have failed to suppress the legitimate struggle and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. India has also intensified state-sponsored terrorism against Pakistan by funding, arming and training militants in collusion with Kabul but valiant defence forces of the country are fully alert to foil nefarious designs of the enemy as they demonstrated in response to the coordinated attacks by BLA terrorists in Balochistan a few days back. India has also raised its defence budget significantly in line with its plans to amass all kinds of weapons from multiple sources. Islamabad has reasons to believe that these preparations are part of India’s aggressive designs against Pakistan. However, as before, it will receive a befitting response from ever vigilant defence forces of Pakistan, who enjoy full backing of the nation.