Pakistan spurns India’s talk of ‘limited war’

Officials say Islamabad is capable of defending its sovereignty

ISLAMABAD: Amid talk of a ‘limited war’ by the Indian army chief, Pakistan said on Tuesday that its armed forces are capable of defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their country against any foreign aggression.

Tensions are running high between the two nuclear-armed hostile neighbours as their troops have frequently exchanged fire along the Line of Control and working boundary for the past few weeks. Both sides blame the other for provoking hostilities.

“[Because of] the frequent ceasefire violations and infiltration bids by our western neighbour, the borders remain live and active. New methods continue to be employed to create unrest in JK [Jammu and Kashmir]. We are acutely aware that the swift, short nature of future wars are likely to offer limited warning time - this calls for maintaining very high levels of operational preparedness at all times,” Indian army chief General Dalbir Singh said on Tuesday at an event in New Delhi.

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Pakistan has yet to give a formal reaction to Gen Singh’s warning. However, a senior foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, dismissed the Indian army chief’s warning as ‘mere rhetoric’ saying there was no possibility of a ‘limited war’ between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The official made it clear that Pakistan was capable of defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any foreign aggression, particularly from India. Last week Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also ruled out the possibility of a ‘limited war’ between Pakistan and India.

“There is no space for a limited war … Any attack on us will depend on Pakistan’s choice of response and timing,” Asif said during his visit to villages along the working boundary near Sialkot.

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Relations between Pakistan and India are at the lowest ebb as a result of current clashes between the two forces along the Line of Control and working boundary.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd,  2015.