Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry Saturday said diplomatic relations between Pakistan and India were returning to normalcy.
Talking to media persons after visiting the Punjab Social Welfare Department shelter home here, he said flight operations at almost all the airports of Pakistan have resumed while high commissioners of both the countries have joined their respective offices in New Delhi and Islamabad. He said it was not worthy of politicians to put the lives of millions of people at stake for political gains.
The information minister, however, criticised the Indian cricket team for wearing military caps during a recent match with Australia. He said New Delhi should refrain from politicising cricket. “Indian cricket team should be banned for wearing military caps during the third ODI against Australia and the International Cricket Council (ICC) should take notice of the incident,” he said.
He said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani has decided to lodge a complaint with the ICC to impose certain sanctions on India for dragging politics into sports. The game of cricket will lose its appeal and credibility if it is allowed to be used for political propaganda, he added.
The minister said the Pakistan cricket team could also raise the Kashmir issue while playing matches, but there were other forums instead of playgrounds to raise political issues. “The ICC should censure the Indian cricket team members for wearing military caps like it had stopped English cricketer Moeen Ali from wearing wrists band ‘Save Ghaza’ and ‘Free Palestine’ during a test match against India in 2014,” he added.
Fawad said Pakistan and India should promote peace in the region but Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying his best to gain political points out of the current situation. “India blamed Pakistan without any evidence soon after the Pulwama attack. But the global community has appreciated the peace overtures which Pakistan took after the crisis started,” he added.
In a separate interview with the Russian media, the minister said dialogue is the only option to resolve all outstanding issues between Pakistan and India and that Pakistan has repeatedly offered talks to its eastern neighbour. He said Kashmir is the main dispute between India and Pakistan which should be resolved through peaceful means and talks.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan has said if India takes one step, Pakistan will take two to ensure peace in the region,” Fawad said, adding that Indian Prime Minister Modi wants to create war hysteria to take advantage in the upcoming general election in India. He categorically said that Pakistan does not want war. “But if the war is imposed, Pakistani nation knows how to defend motherland,” he warned.
On the issue of Pulwama attack, he said that Pakistan has not been given any evidence by India. He said Pakistan made an offer of investigation but there was no response from India. He further said that India always tries to blame Pakistan for its problems.
About Balakot incident, he said that India and Pakistan have their own perspectives but the world media reports have shown the truth. He said that Pakistan and India are neighbouring countries which have fought three wars in 70 years but disputes cannot be resolved through wars. “One option is to continue to try to weaken each other. And the other one is to sit together, hold dialogue and become a partner against terrorism,” he said, adding that India is involved in terrorism in Balochistan and is trying to weaken Pakistan through various conspiracies.
Earlier during his media talk, while commenting on the situation unfolding around former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s health, Fawad claimed that some elements in PML-N are politicising a purely medical issue.
About the visit of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s visit to inquire after Nawaz Sharif at Kot Lakhpat Jail, he said there was nothing wrong in this regard as both the political parties are allies in the parliament.
On the crackdown against banned outfits launched across the country under the National Action Plan (NAP), the information minister elaborated that a number of trusts are running in the country in the name of charity which need to be scrutinised.
Published in Daily Times, March 10th 2019.
