FOREIGN Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday warned India to refrain from launching any attacks on Pakistan, saying that Islamabad would respond with full force if New Delhi embarks on any “misadventure”. Qureshi, in an interview, said that India was plotting an attack on Pakistan to divert attention from a recent deadly clash between India and China in a disputed area of the Himalayas that killed at least 20 Indian soldiers.
The declaration of the Foreign Minister was not without a reason as there are wrong signals from New Delhi during the last few months and their intensity has increased in the aftermath of embarrassment that India received at the hands of Chinese troops in response to its aggressive and expansionist designs in Ladakh. India’s military prestige has received a serious blow after its military suffered humiliation in the standoff with China and there are genuine apprehensions that New Delhi might embark upon some aggressive venture against Pakistan to cover up its follies on Ladakh front. India has repeatedly been violating the ceasefire on the Line of Control and in the process a number of innocent civilians have embraced martyrdom besides injuries to many others. Two Indian Embassy employees in Islamabad were recently arrested on hit-and-run incident in Islamabad for which sufficient evidence was available and subsequently the two countries have halved their diplomatic presence in each other’s capital, which is also another sign of escalation of tension between the two nuclear armed neighbours. India’s civil and military leadership has also been hurling threats despite peace overtures by Pakistan. Pakistan has been sensitizing the international community about India’s aggressive designs and the possibility of some serious conflict between the two countries. In this backdrop, the warning of the Foreign Minister assumes greater significance but it is satisfying that the Government and armed forces of Pakistan, backed by the entire nation, are fully prepared to foil New Delhi’s nefarious designs. Pakistan effectively responded to each and every aggressive move of India conveying a strong message that it has the will and capability to respond in kind and it will do that in future as well.
