The Hindu : Front Page : ‘Military action by India will be a big mistake’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 07, 2009
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‘Military action by India will be a big mistake’

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said on Tuesday that if India took military action against Pakistan, it would be its “biggest mistake.”

He was addressing the Committee on Foreign Relations in the National Assembly.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Malik Adam Khan described the situation as “very tense” and said “any military adventure” by India would get a “befitting” response from Pakistan. He said that as India had not pulled back its troops to peacetime positions, Pakistan’s forces were on “full alert.”

The Minister told the committee that the information provided by India on the Mumbai attacks was “not sufficient.”

Propaganda offensive

Separately, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement responding to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speech in New Delhi, saying that instead of responding positively to Pakistan’s offer of “co-operation and constructive proposals” India had “chosen to embark on a propaganda offensive.”

The statement went on to say that “it will not only ratchet up tensions but occlude facts and destroy all prospects of serious and objective investigations into the Mumbai attacks.”

Rejecting what it called “unfortunate allegations” by Dr. Singh, Pakistan asked India to display “restraint and responsibility.”

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