Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday reached out to top political leaders across party lines and took them into confidence over Pakistan’s retaliatory action against India following a recent cross-border escalation.
The premier held telephonic conversations with key political figures, including PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, MQM Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Balochistan Awami Party leader Khalid Magsi, and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party’s Chaudhry Salik Hussain.
PM Shehbaz briefed the political leadership on the recent Indian aggression, the prevailing situation at the Line of Control, and Pakistan’s official response to the developments.
Sources said the Prime Minister emphasised the need for national unity and assured that the government was closely monitoring the evolving situation. He reiterated that Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be safeguarded at all costs.
In response, leaders from across the political spectrum expressed solidarity with the armed forces and the government. Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, while speaking to media, lauded the government’s “firm response” to the Indian provocation and called for intensified diplomatic engagement to apprise the international community of Pakistan’s stance.
“All political differences are set aside. The entire nation stands united in the face of Indian aggression,” Hafiz Naeem said, adding that Jamaat-e-Islami was fully behind the government and Pakistan’s armed forces.
The development comes amid heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after an alleged Indian strike on Pakistani territory earlier this week.
