Pakistan 'not looking at military option' over Kashmir row

Pakistan says it has not been looking at a military option over Kashmir after arch-rival India scrapped its decades-old special constitutional status for the Muslim-majority region this week.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, however, went on to say that his country reserves the right to respond to any Indian aggression. 

"We're not looking at military option," Qureshi said during a news conference in Islamabad on Thursday, adding, "Don't we reserve a right to respond in case of any aggression?"

India's plan to change the status of the contested Himalayan region has faced fierce opposition and reaction from Pakistan.

"They are saying that they have done it for the welfare of them (Kashmiri people). I want to ask them, ask Mr. Jay Shankar (Indian Foreign Minister), what stopped New Delhi from taking such measures since Article 370 was inserted into the Indian constitution seven decades ago?"the Pakistani minister added.

In a related development the same day, Pakistan's Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed said Islamabad will suspend a rail service linking it to India.

“We have decided to shut down Samjhauta Express,” he said in reference to the train running to India's capital New Delhi from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, adding, “As long as I am railways minister, Samjhauta Express can’t operate.”

Firdous Ashiq Awan, an adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, also said in a tweeter post that the Pakistani government would ban the screening of Indian films in the country's cinemas.

"No Indian cinema will be screened in any Pakistani cinema. Drama, films and Indian content of this kind will be completely banned in Pakistan," she said.

Pakistan on Wednesday decided to expel the Indian envoy and suspend trade in a deepening row over New Delhi's move to tighten its grip on Kashmir. 

SS