A day after canceling talks with Pakistan, New Delhi threatened to inflict pain on Pakistan, alleging that the country supported acts of terrorism against India.
The sudden escalation in Indian rhetoric follows Friday’s decision to call off talks with Pakistan. It was in response to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call for revival of talks that Indian PM Nardendra Modi’s government had Thursday confirmed a meeting between top diplomats of the two South Asian countries in New York this month.
Reacting to the provocative statement made by Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, Pakistan said it was ready to counter any aggression but still wanted the two sides to walk the peace path.
The Indian army chief said India “needs to take stern action to avenge the barbarism that the terrorists and Pakistan Army have been carrying out”. “Yes, it’s time to give it back to them in the same coin, not resorting to similar kind of barbarism. But I think the other side must also feel the same pain,” the Indian army chief said.
“We are always ready and prepared for war. War happens when either side is unprepared for it,” DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor said on Saturday.
In a surprise development, India backtracked from its willingness to hold talks with Pakistan
The army’s media wing spokesperson said that the country’s desire for peace shouldn’t be perceived as its weakness and termed General Rawat’s statement, ‘irresponsible’.
Kashmir map Image Credit Wikimedia Commons
“The Indian government has failed to clamp down the political struggle of Kashmiris,” the spokesperson said, adding that the government of Pakistan’s offer for dialogue is still on the table.
Major General Asif Ghafoor said that Pakistan has successfully fought against terrorism adding that the country has established peace after two-decade of struggle.
“We know the cost of peace and we want to take it ahead,” he said.
The army’s public relations chief said that the Indian government adopted anti-Pakistan narrative in its attempt to divert the attention of its people from the recently surfaced graft allegations. He rejected as false thee Indian government’s claim that the Pakistanis mutilated the body of its soldier.
“We categorically dismiss the Indian allegation. We are a professional army. We can’t disrespect the body of a soldier even if he belongs to an enemy state,” he added.
Meanwhile, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry hit back at the provocative statements by saying that General Rawat should know that he is an army chief not secretary general of nationalist BJP ruling party.
Pakistani analysts have suggested that Modi’s overnight change of position on talks with Pakistan speaks about his using this as a political card ahead of general elections.
