India will get befitting response if reckless enough to conduct false flag operation: PM Imran Khan

• India committed 3,000 ceasefire violations along the LoC in 2020 alone
• Indian Army's unprovoked firing deliberately targeted civilians, resulting in 276 casualties, including 92 women 68 children
• PM Imran Khan says Pakistan will give a befitting response to India if it launches a false flag operation against the country

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that if India is "reckless enough" to conduct a false flag operation against Pakistan, it will be faced with a "strong national Pakistani resolve" and will be given a befitting response.

"I am making [it] absolutely clear to the [international] community that if India was to be reckless enough to conduct a false flag operation against Pakistan, it would confront a strong national Pakistani resolve and be given a befitting response at all levels of the threat. Make no mistake," he stated on Twitter.

His remarks follow an attack on Friday by India on a vehicle of the UN Military Observer Group which was on its way to meet Indian ceasefire violations' victims at the Polas Village in the Chirikot sector along the Line of Control.

PM Imran Khan said that India's deliberate firing on the vehicle of the UN Military Observer Group shows the state's "total disregard for all international norms of acceptable state behaviour and respect for the international law" .

He said that India has committed 3,000 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary in 2020 alone, killing more than 276 Pakistani civilians, including 92 women and 68 children.

Pakistan strongly condemns India's rogue behaviour, he said.

Read more: Indian troops deliberately target UN vehicle in Chirikot sector: ISPR

The premier added that India's internal problems — including economic recession, the intensifying farmers' protest, and the manhandling of COVID-19 — are mounting, adding that India is trying to divert attention from the crises.

"The Modi [government] will divert from [its] internal mess by conducting a false flag operation against Pakistan," the prime minister said, warning the international community.

Attack on UNMOGIP

On Saturday, the United Nations confirmed that a vehicle of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was hit by an “unidentified object” near Rawalakot, adding that investigations are underway.

A day prior, the Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR) said the Indian Army had resorted to unprovoked aggression at LoC by targeting the UN vehicle.

Pakistan writes to UN about India's 'coercive and reckless ploy'

In response to the attack, Pakistan's foreign office wrote a letter today to the United Nations about India's "coercive and reckless ploy" to hinder work by the UN Military Observer Group and "facilitate another Indian military misadventure against Pakistan".

Addressing the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Security Council (UNSC) President in the letter, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN Munir Akram wrote that Pakistan had raised the issue of Indian forces' firing on the UNMOGIP vehicle, urging the United Nations to call upon New Delhi to observe the 2003 ceasefire understanding.

"Pakistan had credible information that the RSS-BJP Government was planning to stage a ‘false flag’ attack to divert attention from its domestic difficulties, and create a justification for another misadventure against Pakistan," the letter added, warning that if such an attack materialised, the country "will exercise its right to self-defence".

Read more about the details of the letter here.