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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Foreign Office on Thursday said the ceasefire understanding with Afghanistan is no longer intact, citing continued cross-border terrorist activity involving Afghan nationals. Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, responding to a question at the weekly media briefing in Islamabad, said the arrangement was always premised on an end to attacks inside Pakistan. &ldquo;The ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan does not imply a traditional ceasefire implemented after two belligerent states engage in war or conflict,&rdquo; Andrabi said. &ldquo;The Pakistan&ndash;Afghanistan ceasefire implied that there would be no terrorist attacks by Afghan-sponsored terrorist proxies inside Pakistan.&rdquo; He added that &ldquo;major terrorist attacks&rdquo; had occurred since the understanding was reached. &ldquo;Interpreting it in that sense, the ceasefire is not holding because it was about ceasing terrorist attacks inside Pakistan by TTP [Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan], FAK [Fitna Al-Khawarij], and Afghan nationals using Afghan soil,&rdquo; he said. Andrabi noted that assaults involving Afghan nationals, including an attack in Islamabad, leave Pakistan unable to remain &ldquo;very optimistic about the ceasefire.&rdquo; Pakistan rejects Indian minister&rsquo;s &lsquo;delusional&rsquo; Sindh remarksThe spokesperson also condemned recent comments by Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh regarding Sindh province, calling them &ldquo;delusional and dangerously revisionist&rdquo; and a &ldquo;clear violation of international law.&rdquo; Singh was quoted by Indian media as saying, &ldquo;Today, the land of Sindh may not be a part of India, but civilizational, Sindh will always be a part of India&hellip; borders can change. Who knows, tomorrow Sindh may return to India again.&rdquo;He also reportedly claimed that Hindus from Sindh of his generation had &ldquo;never fully accepted the province&rsquo;s accession to Pakistan.&rdquo; Andrabi said the remarks disregarded the &ldquo;inviolability of recognized borders and the sovereignty of states.&rdquo; He added that &ldquo;such provocative rhetoric cannot divert attention from the plight of Indian citizens, particularly vulnerable minority communities suffering discrimination rooted in faith-based prejudice and historical distortions.&rdquo; Pakistan also urged India to address longstanding grievances in its northeast, where communities face &ldquo;systematic marginalization, identity-based persecution, and cycles of state-enabled violence.&rdquo; UN concerns on Kashmir highlightedAndrabi said Pakistan &ldquo;noted with grave concern&rdquo; observations from UN experts regarding &ldquo;illegal measures in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).&rdquo; &ldquo;The United Nations report, once again, underscores the severe and systematic human rights violations endured by the Kashmiri people under Indian occupation,&rdquo; he said, citing alarms over the arbitrary arrest and detention of nearly 2,800 Kashmiris, including journalists, students, and rights defenders. He added that laws such as the Public Safety Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act enabled &ldquo;indefinite and unjustifiable detentions.&rdquo; Reaffirming Pakistan&rsquo;s position, Andrabi said the country remains committed to a peaceful settlement of disputes with India based on &ldquo;justice, equity, and established international legal norms.&rdquo; He also urged New Delhi to end coercive measures and halt persecution of religious minorities.

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Foreign Affairs

Pakistan says its ceasefire with Afghanistan is ineffective due to continued cross-border militant attacks with the involvement of Afghan nationals. Islamabad also condemned Indian minister’s remarks on Sindh and highlighted UN concerns over rights abuses in IIOJK and India


Articles tagged with "Rajnath Singh"

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