Islamabad, February 26,2019: Pakistan's Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor denied the Indian claims of being present inside the Pakistani airspace for 21 minutes during their Line of Control breach on Tuesday morning.
In the press conference, DG ISPR said, "The Indian intrusion will have repercussions. You can't surprise us, but we will surprise you. We will retain the escalation ladder. That initiative is with us. I said we will respond, now wait for that response."
He also said that Indian Air Force jets tried to get inside Pakistan through three separate routes and was engaged by Pakistani forces on all three.
Ghafoor further told that the response would come at a time and point of Pakistan’s choosing, which would be decided by the military and civil leadership.
“As a matter of fact it has already been decided,” he said.
The major general also said his military would retain the escalation ladder.
Ghafoor also confirmed that Indian jets crossed the LoC and ventured into Pakistan. The DG ISPR said the IAF tried to get inside Pakistan through three separate routes and was engaged by the Pakistani forces on all three.
Ghafoor claimed an Indian formation was detected moving towards the Lahore-Sialkot sector border which were engaged.
“Another formation was spotted approaching the Bahawalpur border, they were also engaged. Then a much bigger formation was spotted flying from Kiran valley towards Muzaffarabad sector,” he added.
Confirming India’s claim of crossing the LoC, he said, “They came 4-5 nautical miles inside the LoC. On retreat they dropped their payloads and exited, the payloads fell on Jaba due to the angle of exit.”
Commenting on the reason why India struck, he said, “India’s intention was to target civilian areas to prove that they have dismantled terror organisations.”
Responding to questions on why Pakistan did not take immediate action, he said, “We did not shoot down their aircraft because we wanted to expose India. They had come here for a dry run. Otherwise, if they had to target places they could have easily done so without crossing the LoC and firing missiles.”
Ghafoor, in his conference, also mentioned usage of a two-year-old video as proof that India is lying.
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