ISLAMABAD, October 8: Rejecting the Indian claim of carrying out “surgical strikes”, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to New Delhi, Abdul Basit has said his country will never allow the credibility of its deterrence to erode.
“If you want to call cross-LoC firing as `surgical strikes’ that is your prerogative and we can’t stop you. But I can assure you, had there been any surgical strike, Pakistan would have responded immediately and proportionately. As far as Pakistan is concerned, no `surgical strike’ took place, it was cross-LoC firing.
“It is for India to explain. As far as Pakistan is concerned, we would say it is very dangerous to nurture false expectations. There are high stakes involved on both sides and we are very confident that our deterrence is working and Pakistan will never allow the credibility of its deterrence to erode,” Pakistani High Commissioner said in an interview with Indian Weekly Magazine Outlook.
To a question, Abdul Basit said, “We never wanted to escalate the situation either vertically or horizontally. Pakistan has always proportionately responded to whatever violation has taken place in the past. And that continues to be our stance. If there is any action from the Indian side, you can rest assured that Pakistan will respond.”
In response to another question, he said, “Pakistan is very clear; we ourselves are a victim of terrorism. In the past, whenever there have been acts of terrorism in India, accusations have been immediately hurled at Pakistan. I think it is high time we look at things realistically. Pakistan is committed not to allow its territory to be used for violence or terrorist activities.”-Agencies
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