Share this story!            

We will retaliate against any strikes, says Gilani

* PM says Pakistan will respond effectively, seeks world help in defusing tensions
* FM Qureshi hopes India will not ‘make the mistake’, refuses to ‘rule out anything’

MULTAN: Pakistan warned India on Thursday not to launch a ‘surgical strike’ against it and vowed to respond to any attack.

“India should refrain from any surgical strike,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters in Multan. “It should not make this mistake, but if it does, Pakistan will be compelled to respond.”

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani echoed the sentiments during a press conference at the tomb of Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Buksh.

“Pakistan is a civilised nation, which has denounced terrorism. But, we are fully prepared to respond in a befitting manner if war is imposed on us,” he said. Gilani urged the international community to pressure India to defuse the current tensions.

He also repeated Pakistan’s demand that India provide evidence to support its claim that the 10 gunmen who carried out the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month were Pakistani and had links to the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

“Whenever we receive evidence, we will examine it and investigate it, and we will share it with our people,” Gilani told reporters. He said he understands Indian officials are under tremendous pressure to take action, but sought to assure them that Pakistan was committed to cracking down on terrorists.

“We do not want our land to be used for terrorism,” said Gilani.

Qureshi said India’s troop mobilisation could not be compared to that in 2001 after a terrorist attack on its parliament in 2001, but added that Pakistan was monitoring the situation, and its armed forces including the air force were alert.

Despite heightened tensions, Qureshi said that Pakistan wants peace with India.

Asked if he would rule out war, the foreign minister said: “I am not ruling out anything. But if war is imposed, we will respond to it like a brave, self-respecting nation.”

“We should hope for the best but prepare for the worst,” Qureshi said. agencies

Home | Main

Share this story!