Islamabad:
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan did not consider inserting nuclear heads against India under the increased tensions between the two countries last week.
Deputy Prime Minister said in an interview with CNN that Pakistan “had no other choice” than launching strikes in “self -defense” after India’s 7th May cross -border attack.
To denote India’s strikes a “war” and a “desired attempt to establish his hegemony” in Kashmir, he said, “There are certain times when you have to make very serious decisions … We were very sure that our conventional capacity and capabilities are strong enough that we will beat them both in air and on the ground.”
While the ceasefire agreement so far seemed to hold, Dar told the interviewer that long -term negotiations between the two parties were “not done yet.”
“We still hope that sense will prevail,” he noted.
He said it was in every interest in not delaying or leaving such problems beyond a certain reasonable time.
“(The Indians) had seen what happened in the sky,” he added. “They could see how serious the damage was.”
Deputy Prime Minister said there was no direct contact between Indian or Pakistani officials who contradict a previous claim from India’s Director General of Military Operations, which reportedly received a message from his counterpart in Pakistan during the negotiations. Instead, he said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio transferred the message that India was ready to stop the matches.
He said Pakistan was looking forward to establishing a path to long -term peace and security that would provide “dignity to both sides.”
Calling Kashmir “the fundamental reason of this regional instability” called on Ishaq Dar to assign self-determination rights to the Kashmir people.
He reiterated that Pakistan was not behind last month’s attack in Pahagam and said, “We condemn terrorism in all forms and all manifestations.”
Dar added that he believed that US President Donald Trump supported Pakistan’s anti -terrorism efforts.
“If they didn’t think (in our endeavors), they wouldn’t have cooperated on the road (as they did),” Dar said, pointing to Trump’s social media post about “finding a solution” for the Kashmir conflict.
However, DAR warned that the already uncertain truce could be threatened if the water issue was not resolved in the upcoming conversations, referring to the Indian decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in accordance.
Failure to solve the water question “will be an act of war,” Dar said.
Meanwhile, Information Attaullah Tarar said the recent truce between Pakistan and India was the result of different countries diplomatic efforts.
When talking to Sky News, he said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked US President Donald Trump for playing a key role to secure a ceasefire.
He noted that China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Qatar also played an important role in the ceasefire. (With input from app)
