There is no space for a war with India :Pakistan Army

Pakistani Army’s media wing chief said the country was ‘compelled’ to respond during the cross-border firing on Sunday.

The Pakistan Army on Monday said there was no space for a war with India as both are nuclear powers, but warned that its desire for peace should not be mistaken for weakness.

Major General Asif Ghafoor, the director general of Pakistan Army’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations, said “Indians have to realise and understand where they want to go in the future,” Dawn quoted him as saying during a press meet in Rawalpindi. “We are two nuclear powers and there is no space for war.”

He said Pakistan’s defence and desire for peace “should not be mistaken for weakness”. He further said that an agreement had been reached by the directors general of military operations of the two countries last week to improve the existing situation and ensure that their 2003 ceasefire agreement would not be violated, reported Dawn.

However, in the cross-border firing that happened on Sunday after the agreement, Ghafoor said Pakistan was compelled to respond when civilians were targeted. Two Border Security Force personnel were killed in the heavy firing and mortar shelling by Pakistani rangers.

“If India fires the first bullet and no harm is occurred, we will not respond,” Ghafoor said. “If India fires the second bullet, then we will give a befitting response,” he said, adding that Pakistan wants to respect the truce agreement.

Several people have been killed in alleged cross-border firing by Pakistan since January. At least 13 civilians sustained injuries on May 22 after Pakistani troops reportedly initiated firing and shelling along the International Border in Jammu.