Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that Islamabad will not hesitate to use “tactical weapons” against India if its safety is at stake. In an interview to Pakistani TV channel SAMAA on September 26, Asif said, “Tactical weapons, our programmes that we have developed, they have been developed for our protection. We haven't kept the devices just as showpieces. If our safety is threatened, we will annihilate them [India].”
Asif’s comments come a day after India handed over evidence to Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit that the militants who attacked the Indian Army base camp in Uri on September 18 were from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. The strike at Kashmir’s Uri left 18 Indian soldiers dead and the four militants were killed. Although India has been blaming Pakistan for orchestrating the attack from day one, Islamabad has repeatedly denied any role. Asif told Dawn that the attack was "a plan devised by India itself.”
However, this is not the first time that Asif has hinted at using nuclear and atomic weapons against India. In an interview with Geo TV on September 17, he had said, “If there is a threat to our security, or if anyone steps on our soil and if someone's designs are a threat to our security, we will not hesitate to use those weapons for our defence… If our defence and survival is in danger, then we should use everything.”
Besides, Asif also told AP that Pakistan will continue to “morally and diplomatically support” Kashmir’s “independence movement” and that India will "disintegrate" once the Valley gains “freedom”. He said, "When the freedom movement in Kashmir succeeds, it will be beginning of the end of India. India will disintegrate and it will not remain united."
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