Islamabad, Feb. 14 (TNS): In wake of recent provoked statements and threats given by Indian ministers, Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir says Pakistan will pay India in its own coin in case of any Indian misadventure, state media reported on Wednesday.
In a statement on Pakistan’s security policy in the Senate, he said any Indian aggression, strategic miscalculation, or misadventure regardless of its scale, mode, or location will not go unpunished and shall be met with an equal and proportionate response.
The Minister said every inch of Pakistan’s soil will be robustly defended.
He said instead of blaming Pakistan without substantiation, India must answer for state-sponsored espionage against Pakistan. He said living evidence of Kulbushan Yadav is in front of the world.
He said the arrest of Indian spy Kulbushan Jadav indicates New Delhi’s designs to use a third country for espionage against Pakistan.
Khurram Dastgir said India has failed to deliver justice to the 42 Pakistanis murdered in Samjhota Express terrorism eleven years ago.
He said Cold Start deployment against Pakistan, lethal violation of Line of Control and human rights abuses in Kashmir are compounded by India’s jingoism.
Khurram Dastgir said that the hostile stance taken by India has reduced any advocacy of peace in the region.
He said India has been involved in mass ceasefire violations along the Line of Control. He said during the last year India committed over 1800 ceasefire violation resulting in 52 deaths.
Turning to US failure in Afghanistan, the Minister said Washington is not winning war in Afghanistan, despite spending billions of dollars and losing thousands of American lives and Pakistan should not be made a scapegoat for this failure. He said Pakistan has suffered from a loss of billions of dollars and rendered sacrifices of human lives in this war against terrorism.
Khurram Dastgir said that the way forward in Pakistan-US relations is not through threats, issuing notices, and suspension of support. He said mutual recrimination will not benefit any of us.
Commenting on Pak-Afghan Relations, the minister said Pakistan sees Afghanistan as a sovereign neighbor with whom we share historical bonds of culture, trade and religion. He said that Pakistan wants a peaceful, stable, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan.
The Minister said that Pakistan and China share the aim of internal reconciliation in Afghanistan, steadying Pak-India relationships, and stable security situation within Pakistan.
The House will now meet at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
