ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The federal defence minister Khawaja Asif has urged the international community to take notice of blowing up of a Pakistani boat by India on the night of December 31.
On New Year’s Eve, a Pakistani boat was set on fire by the crew on board after being intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard in the Arabian Sea near Indo-Pak maritime boundary. Later, the Indian government claimed that the Pakistani crew were engaged in “illicit activities” and blew up the boat to escape arrest.
However on Wednesday, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Indian Coast Guards B. K. Loshali admitted that he had ordered to blow up the Pakistani fishing boat that had infiltrated Indian waters, according to the Indian media.
“Let me tell you,” he said, “I hope you remember 31st December night… we blew off that Pakistan… We have blown them off… I was there at Gandhinagar and I told at night, blow the boat off. We don’t want to serve them biryani…,” a report published on the Indian Express website on Wednesday quoted Coast Guard DIG B.K. Loshali as saying.
In response to reports in the Indian media, Khawaja Asif said that the admission of the DIG Coast Guard has negated earlier claims of the Indian government that the boat blew itself up.
The defence minister said that once again it has been established that India violated international law.
“Pakistan’s desire for peace should not be misconstrued as its weakness,” Asif said.
But later in the day, according to a report published on the Times of India website, the Indian coast guard officer denied reports which said that he had admitted to have ordered for a Pakistani boat to be blown up in the Arabian Sea on New Year’s Eve.
