JAN 16, (DNA) -Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday reiterated in the Senate that Pakistan’s armed forces would respond with full force if India tried to carry out any surgical strikes inside Pakistan.

Asif, in a fiery speech, said that if India dared to carry out surgical strikes inside Pakistan, a befitting response would be meted out, making India forget any claims of false strikes.

He also said that India’s past claims of surgical strikes were found to be baseless and false.

Asif claimed that the Kashmiri struggle for freedom, India’s internal political compulsion, and its avoidance of composite dialogue were among the reasons behind its unprovoked ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and Working Boundary.

Asif said the India was making failed attempts to link the Kashmiri struggle with cross-border infiltration and terrorism.

He claimed that India’s campaign had already failed on the diplomatic front and that it was afraid of Pakistan’s success in the fight against terrorism.

He added that Pakistan would continue extending political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris in their struggle for their right to self-determination.

He informed the Senate that India had carried out 330 ceasefire violations ─ 290 along the LoC and 40 along the WB ─ until December 2016, which killed 45 civilians while 138 others were injured.

The frequency of violations had declined after December, he said.

Asif told the Senate that the violations had been reported to the United Nations Military Observers Group and the UN had been apprised for the purpose of investigations.=DNA

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