On the occasion of Infantry Day, Defence Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh on Thursday said Pakistan is “committing atrocities” against people in its occupied Kashmir and therefore will have to bear its consequences. He was addressing the ‘Shaurya Diwas’ event — enactment of landing at Srinagar by Indian Air Force on October 27, 1947.
In connection with India’s goal, India’s northward journey of development will be complete only after reaching Gilgit and Baltistan, parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Singh said while referring to the 1994 resolution passed in Parliament on getting back the territories “under illegal occupation” of the neighboring country.
The Defence Minister while accusing Pakistan of shedding crocodiles’ tears in the name of human rights, said, “The pain of the people of Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir also troubles us and not just them.”
The ‘tandav’ of terrorism that Jammu and Kashmir has seen in name of Kashmiriyat cannot be described,” Mr. Singh said while asserting that terrorism has no religion and the only aim of terrorists is to target India.
The Army hosted ‘Shaurya Diwas’ or Infantry Day at the old airfield of Srinagar (Budgam airfield) to mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the 1 Sikh Regiment at the old airfield of Srinagar in 1947 to protect Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistani forces. It was the first military operation of Independent India.
India and Pakistan had fought two major wars over Kashmir, one in 1947 and 1965, and a limited war in 1999.
China, Pakistan’s all-weather friend, on Thursday said New Delhi and Islamabad should resolve the Kashmir issue only through dialogue and consultations and avoid taking “unilateral actions” that could further complicate the situation. India has always rejected third-party intervention on the Kashmir issue, saying that matters related to Jammu and Kashmir are entirely its internal affairs.
