Former foreign minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, citing the world’s silence on Israeli aggression against neighbouring Iran, has warned that “if we don’t speak out for Iranians, there will be no one left when they come for us.”
"First, they came for the Palestinians, but the world did not speak out because they weren't Palestinian. Then they came for the Lebanese, but we did not speak out because we were not Lebanese. And then they came for the Yemenis, but we did not speak out because we're not from Yemen," Bilawal said while speaking during a National Assembly session on Monday.
"Now, they've come for Iran. If we do not speak out, there will be no one left when they come for us. The Israeli regime's aggression across the region must be stopped," he added while warning that ever-expanding war being purported by Israel's genocidal had the potential to "drag every towards World War III".
The former FM's remarks — a reference to Pastor Martin Niemöller's poem First They Came — come against the backdrop of an exponential increase in the Middle East turmoil due to Israel's attack on Iran — a situation further exacerbated by the US strikes on Tehran's nuclear facilities.
The PPP chief has led Pakistan's diplomatic offensive, which saw the high-level diplomatic delegation visiting the US and Europe, after last month's armed conflict with India following New Delhi's cross-border strikes after an attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir's (IIOJK) Pahalgam.
In retaliation, Pakistan launched Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos and downed six IAF fighter jets, including three Rafales, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US.
'Pakistan will go to war'
Bilawal said Pakistan had achieved military, narrative, and diplomatic success against India through the blessings of Allah.
"A cheap copy of [Israeli PM] Netanyahu" exists in the region, he said, referring to India. "We defeated India on the battlefield, in diplomacy, and in the war of narratives," he claimed.
The PPP chief added that his delegation had presented Pakistan's stance and narrative internationally, and "wherever we went, the cheap copy's team, followed."
"We had already won the war," Bilawal said, emphasising that Pakistan's narrative — that regional instability is not in the interest of the people of either Pakistan or India — had found global traction.
"We raised the issue of Kashmir," he said, adding that during the previous government’s tenure in 2019, India launched an attack on Kashmir, but the then prime minister responded by saying, "What do you expect me to do, go to war with India?"
Source: geo.tv
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
