JK News Today Special
Jammu, April 06: The summer 2023 has set in , and the visit of Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir to the Line of Control on Thursday ( April 6) could have been reckoned as routine but for the timing and the statement that he made there at the borderline that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan .
It was his second visit to the LoC, as per official records, on Thursday when he reviewed the preparedness of the troops . His first visit was on December 3, 2022, within days after taking over as the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan after a lot of speculations, ifs and buts . That time he had made a statement that “ Pakistan army is ready to foil any misadventure of the enemy”, and nothing was left to guess , as Pakistani troops face the Indian Army on other side of the LoC . He had called for the Kashmir issue to be settled as per , now obsolete, UN resolutions. That has been almost national anthem of Pakistan. Its noise rises to crescendo whenever the country is riven with turmoil.
On Thursday, too Gen. Asim Munir , brought in the issue of Kashmir, during his interaction with the troops deployed at the LoC . A press release of the Inter-Services Public Relations or ISPR quoted the COAS saying : “ Pakistan army is resolved to defend sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan against all kinds of threat and is determined to support just cause of Kashmiris and seek resolution of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with UN resolutions.”
This statement is intriguing for several reasons – one , the summer has set in and snows in high mountainous passes have started melting , and this is the period when militants lodged at launch pads on the Pakistani side of the LoC, make attempts to cross over to the Indian side of Jammu and Kashmir. Secondly , at this point in time it has been more than two years when the LoC has been quiet, owing to the renewal of the ceasefire agreement of November 2003 on February 25, 2021, therefore as such there is no threat from the Indian side on the LoC unless Pakistan violates ceasefire or pushes infiltrators under the fire cover . Third, it is incomprehensible that when Pakistan is struggling hard to survive in the wake of the unending economic woes – people are dying while queuing for wheat flour in their desperation to feed their families . And, fourth important thing is that Pakistan is facing existential terror threat on Pak-Afghan border , and that area should have been focus of Pakistan army .
Given the situation and imperatives that Pakistan army have drawn , it appears that they are up to some mischief at the LoC , to reignite flames of militancy in Kashmir . In a video on ISPR twitter, the COAS is shown the Indian side of the LoC. The video is mute, but one can guess that the chief is discussing some strategic issues , and the Pakistani side is on a higher side as the Valley below is visible . It is not known what exactly was being discussed , but it is clear that the peace was not on the mind of visiting Pakistan army chief during his forward positions at LoC.
