ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that India does not want to see a stable and prosperous Pakistan, adding that Pakistan will retaliate forcefully to India if it imposes war.
“Pakistan wants to resolve issues with India in a peaceful manner to bring peace in the region but India does not seem interested in it,” the minister was quoted as saying by media in an interview.
In reply to a question, the minister said that peace in the region is linked with peace in Afghanistan.
The relations between the two nuclear powers have been witnessing high tension for over a year now. The Indian government recently caused the cancellation of scheduled security talks between the two countries by setting pre-conditions for the Pakistani delegation to not to meet Kashmir leaders in New Delhi.
The situation at the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary between Pakistan and India is also worrisome as the countries continue to accuse each other of violating the ceasefire agreement at the border.
Last week, eight Pakistani civilians including one woman and a child were martyred and 47 others injured when the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) personnel resorted to shelling along the Working Boundary in Sialkot’s Charwah, Harpal, Chaprar and Sucheetgarh sectors.
In reply, Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif visited the Sialkot Working Boundary and said in a statement that India was disregarding international conventions and norms, and had crossed all limits to terrorise Pakistan’s civilian population.
