ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday reiterated its resolve to play the part for regional peace but warned that any aggression from India would be thwarted.
“Pakistan believes in peace but knows how to respond to any aggression,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said in a Radio Pakistan programme.
The minister struck back the Indian army chief’s statement of readying his forces for a ‘short war’.
“We want peace but would inflict serious damage upon India if war hysteria overcomes its leadership,” Asif said.
Indian Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh said the other day that India was prepared to face off military action on its borders. Indian newspaper, The Hindu, quoted him as referring to the ceasefire ‘violations’ along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir, which have put relations between India and Pakistan under strain.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in such skirmishes between the two nuclear neighbours since independence in 1947. Both said the other side had opened fire first.
“Pakistan is fully prepared to give a befitting response to India-imposed short or long war. The Pak army failed Indian forces’ attempts to damage Pakistan in 1965 and now it is much more experienced and professional,” he warned.
The defence minister showed the same spirit of determination during his visit to Sialkot villages hit by Indian firing last week.
“We want permanent peace in the region but not at the cost of civilian lives. If India crosses the international border and aggression is committed again, we will defend our homeland and inflict much more damage than that of 1965,” he told the media there.
The 1965 war between the two countries was fought for over two weeks in September, and on each September 6, the militaries of both states are eulogised.
Tension between the two nuclear neighbours grew after both sides got engaged in a diplomatic confrontation that began after suspension of bilateral talks a couple of weeks ago.
Asif said the country’s political leadership, including the prime minister, won’t hesitate to offer any sacrifice for the defence of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence passed a resolution against unprovoked Indian firing across the Line of Control and the Working Boundary.
Presiding over the in-camera meeting, Rohail Asghar said the Ministry of Defence was holding talks with the United States over the Coalition Support Fund.
The same day, a three-member Hurriyat delegation of Syed Geelani faction met the Pakistan high commissioner, Abdul Basit. The delegation handed over a letter from Geelani to Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif for Praising Pakistan stance on Kashmir.
This was the first meeting between the Pakistan envoy and Hurriyat leaders after the collapse of NSA dialogue last month.
“We handed over Geelani sahab’s letter for PM Sharif to the officials at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi,” Ayaz Akbar, spokesperson for the Hurriyat Conference, said in a statement.
Geelani’s top aides — Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah and Altaf Ahmad — met Basit at his office and stayed for more than an hour.
“The letter is confidential but highly important,” Akbar told a news agency. “Officials at the high commission assured us that the letter will be dispatched to the Pakistan prime minister on Wednesday,” Akbar said.
Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit said, Islamabad wanted that the foreign secretaries discuss modalities to talk on all outstanding issues including Kashmir.
Basit made the statement at ABP News’ upcoming programme Press Conference to be aired on Saturday and Sunday. The interaction with Basit was recorded on Wednesday.
“We didn’t want the NSAs to discuss Jammu and Kashmir, but we had proposed that the foreign secretaries can meet separately and discuss the modalities for talks on other outstanding issues including Kashmir,” he said. But, the Indian side didn’t agree to the proposal, he added.
Basit also said that the recent telephone bills of Dawood Ibrahim, indicating that he was in Pakistan, were fake. “If he was in Pakistan, he would have been deported,” he said.
The Pakistan envoy also said that Jamatud Dawa is a “charitable outfit”, whose work in Pakistan is well-known. On JuD founder Hafiz Saeed approaching the courts in Pakistan to seek ban on the release of a Bollywood film, he said the judiciary is “independent” in Pakistan and anybody can approach the courts.
He also said that the two Prime Ministers should talk and take the dialogue process forward. Expressing hope that the two PMs will meet in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Basit did not rule out an invitation either.
He also said that the language of war should not be used anymore and talks of “hot pursuit” and “surgical strikes” should be stopped.