Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday urged his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to “give peace a chance” in the aftermath of the suicide attack that took place in Pulwama on February 14. Khan reiterated that he would act immediately if India gives “actionable intelligence” on the attack, which was claimed by Pakistan-based Masood Azhar’s Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Khan’s remarks came a day after Modi challenged him to stand true to his words and act against terror outfits. Recalling a phone conversation with Khan last year, Modi said in Rajasthan on Saturday: “He told me, ‘Modi ji, I am the son of a Pathan. I speak true and I do true.’ Today, the time has come for him to stand true to his words. I will see whether he stands true to his words or not.”
A statement released by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Sunday said the Prime Minister stood by his promise. “In response to Modi’s comments, PM Imran Khan stands by his words that if India gives us actionable intelligence, we will immediately act,” it said.
Modi should “give peace a chance”, Khan said in the statement, adding that peace efforts were “derailed” much before the Pulwama attack.
At a meeting of Pakistan’s National Security Committee last week, Khan had authorised the Army to “decisively and comprehensively” respond to any action from India. The committee had also announced that Pakistan was “not involved in any way” in the Pulwama attack.
‘Pakistan wants peace, but India creating war frenzy’
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday claimed that while his country wants peace, India is creating a “war frenzy” after the Pulwama attack, PTI reported. Qureshi said Pakistan was trying to defuse tensions and had written to the United Nations Security Council.
Last week, Qureshi had accused India of threatening regional security and had claimed that India shifted the blame to Pakistan “to cover up its own operational and policy failures”.
“Pakistan wants peace and I want to give a clear message that India is creating war frenzy, but if it thinks that it can bring Pakistan under pressure or browbeat us, then it should get rid of this notion because this nation is united like a fist,” Qureshi said. “Don’t even think of looking at Pakistan with an evil eye.”
Qureshi asked Indian politicians to counsel the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre to follow restraint.
India can finish us with 20 bombs: Pervez Musharraf
Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said that India could “finish us by attacking with 20 [atomic] bombs” if Pakistan launched even a single nuclear attack it, Dawn reported on Saturday.
“The only solution is that we should first attack them with 50 atom bombs, so that they cannot hit us with 20 bombs,” he said at a press conference in Dubai. “Are you ready to first launch an attack with 50 bombs?”
Musharraf asked Pakistan to keep in place a military strategy in case India launched an attack in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack.
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