By Kavita Mistry 
Last Updated:
Pakistan’s defence minister said on Monday that a military incursion by neighbouring India was imminent in the aftermath of a deadly terrorist attack on tourists in Kashmir
Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif (File image: X)
Amid rising tensions with India in the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Monday that a military incursion by neighbouring India was “imminent”, adding that Islamabad has reinforced its forces.
Last week, terrorists, associated with Pakistan-backed terror group TRF, opened fire on unarmed civilians in the scenic Baisaran Valley of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, killing 26 people, mostly tourists. The Resistance Front (TRF) is a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
“We have reinforced our forces because it is something which is imminent now. So in that situation some strategic decisions have to be taken, so those decisions have been taken,” Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters in an interview at his office in Islamabad.
Asif said India’s rhetoric was ramping up and that Pakistan’s military had briefed the government on the possibility of an Indian attack. He did not go into further details on his reasons for thinking an incursion was imminent.
After the attack, India identified two suspected terrorists as Pakistani. Islamabad has denied any role and called for a neutral investigation.
Asif said Pakistan was on high alert and that it would only use its arsenal of nuclear weapons if “there is a direct threat to our existence”.
After the Pahalgam attack, India took a series of steps including putting Indus Water Treaty on abeyance and closing Attari border.
After the dastardly attack in Pulwama in 2019, India carried out aerial strikes in Pakistan’s Balakot, targeting training camps of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group.
In 2016, the Indian army conducted surgical strikes on terrorist camps in PoK in retaliation for a terrorist attack on an army base in Uri, where 19 soldiers lost their lives.
- Location :
Islamabad, Pakistan