Pakistan not looking at military option in Kashmir row, says foreign minister

Tariq Butt / Agencies

Pakistan will not resort to military action in a row with nuclear arch-rival India over Kashmir, its foreign minister said on Thursday, as tensions soared over New Delhi’s decision to tighten its grip on the disputed region.

The move by Delhi on Monday to strip Kashmir of its special autonomy brought the Indian-held portion of the Himalayan region under its direct rule.

The decision deepened animosity with Pakistan, which has already fought two of its three wars with India over Kashmir, and ignited days of debate within the country over how Islamabad should respond.

“Pakistan is not looking at the military option. We are rather looking at political, diplomatic, and legal options to deal with the prevailing situation,” said Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a press conference in Islamabad.

“We have decided to go back to the UN security council to challenge this Indian position, which is morally incorrect,” he added.

Qureshi’s comments come on the heels of a decision by Islamabad to downgrade its diplomatic ties with India, suspend bilateral trade, and expel the country’s envoy. Pakistan has vowed to “firmly” stand with Kashmiris, but earlier this week Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed exasperation with war-mongering in parliament, at one point asking rhetorically: “What do you want me to do? Attack India?”

He also warned of the global consequences of war between two nuclear-armed nations.

The Muslim-majority Kashmir region has long been a sensitive flashpoint between India and Pakistan, which have had conflicting claims to the region since independence from Britain in 1947.

Earlier this year the two sides came to dangerously close to the brink of war once more, after a deadly attack in Indian-held Kashmir was claimed by a militant group based in Pakistan, prompting tit-for-tat airstrikes igniting brief fears of a nuclear clash.

Pakistan halted its main train service to India on Thursday and banned Indian films as it exerted diplomatic pressure on New Delhi for revoking the special status of Kashmir.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid announced to permanently shut down the Samjhauta Express train that runs between Pakistan and India for two days, Mondays and Thursdays, in a week.

The train was about to leave for India when the operation was cancelled.

The minister said all the passengers, who had booked the seats, should take refunds.

Kashmir remained under a communications blackout on Thursday with mobile networks and internet services suspended and at least 300 politicians and separatists in detention to prevent protests, according to police, media and political leaders.

Kashmir’s leaders have warned of a backlash and Pakistan, which also lays claims to the Himalayan territory, vowed to fight for the rights of people living there.

On Thursday, Pakistan said it would ban the screening of Indian movies in the country’s cinemas. The two nations have previously banned each other’s artistic content, or artists, when tensions have escalated.

India’s Bollywood industry has banned Pakistani artists since 2016, when militants attacked an army camp in Kashmir and killed several soldiers. India blames Pakistan-backed militant groups for the attack, an allegation that Pakistan has denied.

“No Bollywood movie has released in Pakistan this year, and I don’t think producers are even looking at it as a market,” film distributor and industry tracker Girish Johar said.

While Indian films are hugely popular in Pakistan, most find their way into the country via pirated copies, he said.

“Even if business were getting affected, I don’t think any Bollywood producer would want to release their film in Pakistan. National interests will come above all else,” said Atul Mohan, a Mumbai-based movie business analyst.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist led government, which has long campaigned for an end to Kashmir’s special status, said it would split the state into two federal territories that the region’s leaders labelled a further humiliation.

Thousands of paramilitary police have been deployed in Kashmir’s largest city, Srinagar, schools shut and roads and neighbourhoods barricaded.

There have been sporadic protests, two police officers said, speaking on condition of anonymity. At least 13 people have been injured in stone-throwing protests across the city since Tuesday night, one officer said.