Barrister Gohar calls for political ceasefire after truce with India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has said that Pakistan has given India a befitting response and shattered it’s arrogance.

Talking to HUM News programme’s “Situation Room”, he said that once that arrogance was broken, India agreed to a ceasefire.

“Now that there is a ceasefire with the enemy, there should also be a ceasefire among ourselves. We must create an atmosphere where differences do not turn into hostility,” he said.

“As a nation, we have sent a strong message to India that we know how to respond. We have shown India that we know how to defend ourselves, and our armed forces know how to protect the country,” he said.

He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called him and they had a conversation, and “he took me into confidence”.

The PTI chief said that “going forward, we will continue to show unity for Pakistan. Pakistan has always taken positive steps. Whenever it comes to Pakistan, we will stand together. If anything benefits Pakistan, we will support it.”

It should be noted that India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after US diplomacy, announcing a sudden stop to a conflict that had seemed to be spiralling alarmingly, Reuters said.

The fighting had been the worst between the old South Asian enemies in nearly three decades and threatened to erupt into a full-scale war in one of the world’s most volatile and densely populated regions.

There were briefly fears that nuclear arsenals might come into play as Pakistan’s military said a top body overseeing its nuclear weapons would meet.

But the defence minister said no such meeting was scheduled, hours after a night of heavy fighting in which the two countries targeted each other’s military bases and the combined civilian death toll rose to 66.

“Pakistan and India have agreed to a ceasefire with immediate effect,” Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar posted on X. “Pakistan has always strived for peace and security in the region, without compromising on its sovereignty and territorial integrity!”

The Indian foreign secretary said the two countries’ military chiefs had spoken to each other and agreed that all fighting would stop at 5 pm Indian time (1130 GMT), without using the word “ceasefire”.

US President Donald Trump posted: “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence.”