Modi’s handpicked army chief shouldn’t be taken seriously: Ex-FM Kasuri

Says Pakistan’s battle-hardened army has an edge over Indian military

KARACHI: In the wake of frayed bilateral ties following India’s rejection of an olive branch extended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri on Tuesday said that empty threats of ‘surgical strikes’ by Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat should not be taken seriously by Pakistan.

“The current Indian army chief is not an ordinary army chief as he was handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the established tradition of seniority in India to support his BJP party’s views. So we should not take his statements very seriously,” he said while speaking in Tribune 24/7 show Beyond the News, hosted by Ahmed Shah.

Rawat had threatened Pakistan with ‘another surgical strike’ on ‘terror launch pads’ across the Line of Control (LoC) in a televised interview on Sunday. He had also warned the neighbouring country of ‘painful retaliation’ over its alleged involvement in last week’s killing of a border guard and policemen in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) a day earlier.



Kasuri said, “This bluff is aimed at convincing their own people and to reap electoral dividends for the BJP.”

Commenting over Indian claims of conducting ‘surgical strikes’ inside the Pakistani territory in 2016, he said Indians themselves know that it is not true and the strikes never took place at the first place. “So, when you speak of surgical strike it’s an attempt to hoodwink their own people and if Pakistan was scared, it would have changed its policy which is to support Kashmiris’ legitimate rights at all platforms against systematic violation of human rights according to the latest UN report.”

The former foreign minister said if India wanted to go for such strikes it would have carried it out immediately after Mumbai attacks when it was blaming Pakistan for the condemnable events in 2008.

“Conducting surgical strikes is not that easy because of instant reaction to it and I think India would not be able to achieve anything by doing that,” he remarked.



“However, if they threaten us, then they should be prepared for a commensurate response from Pakistan. But I would also say, as the prime minster and Foreign Minister [Shah Mehmood Qureshi] have already said, that Pakistan’s position is based on need for dialogue and if they do not take place they will take place sooner or later. May be after 2019 elections, the need for talks will be felt even if Mr Modi were to be re-elected.”

Kasuri said the US State Department had welcomed the decision of Pakistan-proposed resumption of dialogue between Pakistan and India. The international community including the European Union, China and Russia also believe that improvement in ties between the two South Asian neighbours would suit their purposes as well, he added.

The senior diplomat said Pakistan is not scared of empty Indian threats because of the ground reality, which is also known to the Indian leadership that at conventional, sub-conventional and nuclear level militaries of the two countries are almost equal.



“In some areas one is ahead and in others the other one … In fact, Pakistan’s battle-hardened military has an edge as it doesn’t have to import weapons from anyone. It has a bigger and stronger defence industrial infrastructure,” he added.

“So, the logical question should be what would India do? … Well it can’t do anything different than it’s already been doing and that is killing innocent people as a result of cross-border firing along the LoC. Unfortunately, we retaliate and innocent civilians are killed in the process also. Although, the attempts by Pakistan are largely to spare civilians because we consider them as our own people who are suffering due to human rights violations. So, India is in advantage when it fires across LoC as it doesn’t mind who it’s firing at.”

The former foreign minister said the prime minister rightly pointed out that Pakistan will not be cowed down by the empty threats of the Indian military chief and the international community must realise Pakistan and India’s position on the issue and Pakistan’s desire to resolve the issue through dialogue.