'Misleading' to link Abhinandan's release with anything other than Pakistan's mature response: DG ISPR

Saiyan0321 · Oct 29, 2020

'Misleading' to link Abhinandan's release with anything other than Pakistan's mature response: DG ISPR

Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), on Thursday termed as "disappointing" and "misleading" any attempt to link the release of Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman with anything other than Pakistan's mature response as a responsible state.

Although the chief of the military's media wing did not name anyone, his statement comes a day after former National Assembly speaker and senior PML-N leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq suggested that the PTI government had released Abhinandan in capitulation, fearing an imminent attack from India.

After his comments sparked a social media storm, Sadiq on Thursday issued a clarification, saying his remarks were being "misquoted and misreported".

Addressing a press conference with a one-point agenda, the DG ISPR said he sought to "correct the record" regarding the events that surrounded India's violation of Pakistani airspace last year in

"A statement was given yesterday which tried to distort the history of issues associated with national security," he said.

The DG ISPR said following the attack on Indian troops in occupied Kashmir's Pulwama area, India "showed aggression against Pakistan in violation of all international laws on February 26, 2019, in which not only did it face defeat but was humiliated around the world".

"Pakistani armed forces' alert and timely response foiled the enemy's designs. The enemy planes that had come to drop the explosives on the Pakistani people escaped while dropping their payload on empty mountains in panic after seeing our Shaheens."

He said the Pakistani forces "decided to teach the enemy a lesson in response" to the attack and country's entire civil and military leadership was united in the decision.

"Pakistan responded to India in broad daylight after announcing it. Not only did we give an appropriate reply, but also shot down two enemy war planes [and] Wing Commander Abhinandan was captured.

"I remember [Foreign Minister] Shah Mahmood Qureshi sahib was present in that meeting, which the prime minister had refused to attend. The chief of army staff also attended," Sadiq had said while responding to federal minister Murad Saeed.

"With his legs shaking and sweat on the forehead, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said to us, 'For God's sake, let him (Abhinandan) go back now'," he had claimed, adding "no attack was imminent; they only wanted to capitulate and send Abhinandan back".

As his comments went viral on social media and were picked up by Indian television channels, Sadiq issued a clarification on Thursday, saying the tweets and Indian media reports were "totally contrary" to what he actually said in the parliament.

"Abhinandan had not come to Pakistan to distribute sweets; he had attacked Pakistan and it was a victory for Pakistan when his plane was shot down," he said in a video message.

Sadiq said Prime Minister Imran had called a meeting of parliamentary leaders on the issue but "could not dare" to attend the meeting because he was very anxious. "He did not share with us on whose instruction he was doing this and what pressure he was under because he did not attend the meeting," he alleged.