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Pakistan’s defence minister said on Monday that a military incursion by neighbouring India was imminent in the aftermath of a deadly terrorist attack on tourists in Kashmir
Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif (File image: X)
Amid rising tensions with India in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Monday that a military incursion by neighbouring India was “imminent”, adding that Islamabad has reinforced its forces.
Last week, terrorists associated with the Pakistan-backed terror group TRF opened fire on unarmed civilians in the scenic Baisaran Valley of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, killing 26 people, mostly tourists. The Resistance Front (TRF) is a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
“We have reinforced our forces because it is something which is imminent now. So in that situation, some strategic decisions have to be taken, so those decisions have been taken,” Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters in an interview at his office in Islamabad.
Asif said India’s rhetoric was ramping up and that Pakistan’s military had briefed the government on the possibility of an Indian attack. He did not elaborate on his reasons for believing an incursion was imminent.
After the attack, India identified two suspected terrorists as Pakistani. Islamabad has denied any role and called for a neutral investigation.
Asif said Pakistan was on high alert and that it would only use its arsenal of nuclear weapons if “there is a direct threat to our existence”.
Asif also said that clouds of war are looming in the next two to four days, Samaa TV reported.
However, later in an interview with Geo News, the defence minister said that his remarks on “imminent” military incursion by India were “misinterpreted”.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has asked its ministers to refrain from speaking out of turn over India’s downgrading of diplomatic ties in view of cross-border links to the Pahalgam terror attack.
According to sources, the Pakistan government has told its ministers not to make incendiary statements as the top establishment feels the atmosphere is already tense.
After the Pahalgam attack, India took several measures, including suspending the Indus Water Treaty and closing the Attari border. However, there are calls from both citizens and politicians for a strong response to the attack, similar to the Uri surgical strike and Balakot air strikes.
After the dastardly attack in Pulwama in 2019, India carried out air strikes in Pakistan’s Balakot, targeting training camps of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group. In 2016, the Indian army conducted surgical strikes on terrorist camps in PoK in retaliation for a terrorist attack on an army base in Uri, where 19 soldiers lost their lives.
Meanwhile, former J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Shesh Paul Vaid said that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) will be reclaimed and Pakistan will be split into four parts.
- Location :
Islamabad, Pakistan