New Delhi: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday claimed that India was preparing for another war and asked New Delhi to retreat and move towards negotiations.
What Zardari said
Zardari said, “India’s leaders say they are readying for another war. As a lifelong advocate of regional peace, I would not recommend it.” He made these remarks while addressing a joint session of Parliament amid protests by the opposition.
Zardari underlined that Pakistan is always open to talks. He said: “My message to them (India) is to move away from the war theatre to meaningful negotiation tables, because that is the only path for regional security.”
Zardari also hit out at India’s decision to put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. He dubbed the move as plain and simple hydro-terrorism and alleged that New Delhi was weaponising water flows for political gains.
He said that Pakistan would continue to provide diplomatic and moral support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, stating that lasting peace in South Asia can’t be achieved until there was resolution to the Kashmir issue.
Zardari also tried to project Pakistan as a responsible nuclear power while sounded a stern warning to India about the consequences of a war. “Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state and understands the weight of that responsibility. At the same time, we are a state that defends itself when required,” he asserted.
What he said about Afghanistan
Zardari said that Pakistan had exhausted all diplomatic avenues to check military escalation over cross-border militant activity.
“Let me be clear: the soil of Pakistan is sacred. We will not allow any entity, domestic or foreign, to use neighbouring territory to destabilise our peace,” he said.
Zardari claimed that Afghanistan’s Taliban government had failed to stick to the commitments made under the Doha agreement to stop militant outfits from operating from Afghan soil.
What Indian Intel sources said
Indian intelligence sources branded Zardari’s comments as political signalling instead of a real call for peace. CNN-News18 quoted sources as saying that the speech was just “defensive posturing” aimed at shifting focus from the multiple crises that Pakistan is currently grappling with, including cross-border terrorism.
According to experts Pakistani leaders often make cosmetic calls for peace and simultaneously issue veiled threats,as Zardari did in his speech. Such statements are made to divert attention from Pakistan’s internal problems.