Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned on Monday that India could carry out a military strike at any point along the Line of Control (LoC) as tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours continue to simmer following the attack on tourists in IIOJK.
“There are reports that India may strike at any point along the Line of Control (LoC)… New Delhi will be given a befitting reply,” the defence minister said while speaking to journalists in Islamabad.
Relations between the two arch-rivals have nosedived since gunmen killed 26 people on April 22 in an attack targeting tourists in Pahalgam.
Asif said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had already called for the constitution of an international commission to investigate the incident. “Such a probe would expose whether India itself or any internal group was involved, and clarify the truth behind New Delhi’s baseless allegations against Pakistan,” he added.
“An international investigation will reveal whether [Indian Prime Minister] Narendra Modi is lying or telling the truth,” he said, adding, “Only then can we tell Modi that he is a liar and destroying global peace.”
The minister further castigated Modi for “pushing the region to the brink of nuclear war” solely to secure votes through political drama.
He further said that India is involved in sponsoring terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. “We had presented evidence of Indian terrorism in KP to the United Nations in 2016 and 2017,” he noted, adding: “Those proofs included videos showing how India finances and instigates terrorism.”
He regretted that Pakistan continues to face threats from across the Afghan border, asserting that the recent wave of terrorism in KP and Balochistan is being orchestrated from Afghanistan, with India’s backing.
