لگا کر آگ شہر کو یہ بادشاہ نے کہا
اٹھا ہے دل میں تماشے کا آج شوق بہت
جھکا کر سر کو سبھی شاہ پرست بول اٹھے
حضور کا شوق سلامت رہے ، شہر اور بہت
#27thconstitutionalamendment
I want to thank in humility the people of NA 128 who reached out in defiance and voted for Imran Khan and PTI on 8 Feb, 2024. I recieved with gratitude 159,024 votes. This was among the highest votes in the country & three times the votes polled by my nearest opponent. Thank you!
Agreed but I think we are beyond an apology at this stage. A few points on why this attack was particularly perfidious:
Timing: Jaishankar was in Iran the day before. PM Kakar was meeting Iranian FM on the same day as the attacks. We are conducting Joint Naval Exercises with Iran currently. Their was a level of unity over Palestine that needed to be demonstrated which Iran has vitiated.
Positioning: Iran is acting like it hasn’t harbored terrorists in the past who have launched attacks in Pakistan. They have also given safehaven to Indian spies involved in numerous deadly attacks in Pakistan (Jadhav). Should Pakistan respond similarly to Iran-backed terror in Pakistan (we have quite the backlog)? New normal?
Despite Jadhav and India’s Chahbahar involvement, Pakistan still considers (considered?) Iran a friendly nation. The attacks were approx 50 miles within Pakistan territory - this wasn’t some hot pursuit issue, these were deliberate attacks on stationary targets. After the US Drone Program, India’s Balakot strikes, and the Indian Brahmos missile incident, Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial independence had been significantly dented, a move like this was particularly treacherous, not expected from an ally. This has further damaged our sovereignty, reputation, and prestige significantly.
Alternatives: Cross-border terrorism can be dealt with through various means. Iran did not exercise all peaceful means and has deliberately gone for a provocative military strike. Diplomatic means, CT cooperation, etc. could have been opted for before we got to this. There is a way states interact and escalate matters - that wasn’t followed.
Consequences: Given the internal political situation there is going to be intense pressure on the armed forces to launch a retaliatory strike. I think they will have to given their popularity right now. What they hit will be interesting (state or non-state targets?). Attack will have to be necessary and proportionate when exercising self-defence under Art. 51 of the UN Charter.
Diplomatically, Pakistan can downgrade diplomatic ties and PNG (kick out) a few Iranian Embassy officials. We might close down some or all of the Iranian cultural centres as well.