Pak cannot be cowed down by Indian threats: Interior minister

 Pakistan will not succumb to the threats by India and would continue to support Kashmiris' struggle for self-determination, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan said today.

"Kashmiris' legitimate and just struggle for self-determination cannot be suppressed by state repression," Khan told Prime Minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Raja Mohammad Farooq Haider Khan who called on him here.

According an official statement, the two leaders held detailed discussion on the alleged oppression of innocent Kashmiris by India and the continuing human rights abuses.

"Pakistan will not succumb to threats by India and will not shy away from providing political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of occupied Kashmir," he said.

He said that the violation of human rights in Kashmir and rejection by India of the UN resolution was a challenge not only for the UN but also for other countries which are considered as champions of democratic values.

He said the Indian attitude of hurling baseless allegation at Pakistan and its avoidance to hold meaningful talks with Pakistan are the main hurdle for peace in the region.

In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday.

Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Indian Army.
India's DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh has said all the four killed militants were foreign terrorists and had carried with them items which had Pakistani markings and that initial reports indicated that they belonged to Pakistan-based Jaish-E-Mohammed terrorist group.

"We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing," Lt Gen Singh had said.