Imran Khan vows Pakistan ‘will fight till the end’ if India wages violence in Kashmir

Khan criticised India for its move to strip Indian-administered Kashmir of its special status in a speech celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day

He backed Kashmiris living in Jammu and Kashmir that he supported their struggle for self-determination

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Pakistani Kashmiri protesters at a march in Islamabad. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:58pm, 14 Aug 2019Updated: 10:36pm, 14 Aug 2019

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan warned India on Wednesday that Islamabad was prepared to respond to any aggression in the disputed region of Kashmir, vowing the time had come to teach New Delhi a lesson.

“The Pakistani army has solid information that they are planning to do something in Pakistani Kashmir, and they are ready and will give a solid response,” Khan said during a televised speech in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

“We have decided that if India commits any type of violation we will fight till the end,” he said.

Khan’s visit to the region came more than a week after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an executive decree to strip its portion of the Himalayan region, known as Jammu and Kashmir, of its special status.

Islamabad retaliated by suspending bilateral trade and all public transport links with India, as well as expelling New Delhi’s ambassador to Islamabad.

In an address celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day, Khan criticised India for its actions in the disputed region and assured Kashmiris living in the Indian-administered part of the region that he supported their struggle for self-determination.

“Independence Day is an opportunity for great happiness, but today we are saddened by the plight of our Kashmiri brothers in occupied Jammu and Kashmir who are victims of Indian oppression,” Khan said in a statement. “I assure my Kashmiri brothers that we stand with them.”