{"id":203039,"date":"2019-02-19T23:55:41","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T04:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=203039"},"modified":"2019-02-19T23:55:41","modified_gmt":"2019-02-20T04:55:41","slug":"pakistani-pm-willing-to-talk-but-warns-india-not-to-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/02\/19\/pakistani-pm-willing-to-talk-but-warns-india-not-to-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistani PM willing to talk but warns India not to attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Imran Khan said he hoped \u201cbetter sense\u201d would prevail after the attack on a paramilitary convoy that killed at least 40 Indian troops. But he warned in a televised speech Tuesday that if India attacks, \u201cPakistan will not merely think of retaliation, but rather, we will retaliate.\u201d (File Photo<\/a>: Imran Khan (official)\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ISLAMABAD \u2013 Pakistan’s prime minister offered to hold talks with India, even as he warned New Delhi to refrain from launching any attacks on his country following last week’s suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir.<\/p>\n

Imran Khan said he hoped \u201cbetter sense\u201d would prevail after the attack on a paramilitary convoy that killed at least 40 Indian troops. But he warned in a televised speech Tuesday that if India attacks, \u201cPakistan will not merely think of retaliation, but rather, we will retaliate.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both sides \u201cto exercise maximum restraint and take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions,\u201d U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.<\/p>\n

He said the U.N. chief’s \u201cgood offices are available if accepted by both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is divided between the two countries but claimed by each in its entirety.<\/p>\n

The U.N. Security Council in 1948 called for a plebiscite \u201cas soon as possible\u201d on the future of the Himalayan territory but it has never been held. A U.N. peacekeeping mission has been in the region since 1949.<\/p>\n

The bombing last Thursday in which a militant rammed an explosive-laden van into a paramilitary bus was the worst attack against Indian government forces in the history of Kashmir, where rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989.<\/p>\n

India has blamed Pakistan and threatened a \u201cjaw-breaking response.\u201d Islamabad condemned the attack and cautioned India against linking Pakistan to the bombing without an investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have any actionable evidence, share it with us and we will take action,\u201d Khan said. \u201cWe are ready to co-operate with India in the investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope better sense will prevail,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

His remarks were in response to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that his security forces have been given \u201ctotal freedom\u201d to deal with the militants in Kashmir.<\/p>\n

Hours later, India’s External Affairs Ministry said in a statement it was surprised that Khan \u201crefuses to acknowledge the attack on our security forces in Pulwama as an act of terrorism\u201d and that the Pakistani premier \u201chas neither chosen to condemn this heinous act, nor condoled with the bereaved families.\u201d<\/p>\n

It said Khan ignored claims of responsibility made by Jaish-e-Mohammad, as well as by the assailant who perpetrated the crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a well-known fact that Jaish-e-Mohammad and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. These should be sufficient proof for Pakistan to take action,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

It said Khan sought evidence from New Delhi, which was \u201ca lame excuse\u201d as India had given evidence to Islamabad following the Mumbai attacks in 2008 and \u201cdespite this, the case has not progressed for the last more than 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPakistan claims to be the greatest victim of terrorism. This is far from the truth. The international community is well acquainted with the reality that Pakistan is the nerve centre of terrorism,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Azhar was released from custody in India in 1999, in exchange for more than 150 hostages from a hijacked Indian Airlines flight.<\/p>\n

India and Pakistan have both recalled their ambassadors since the attack, and Pakistan called on the U.N. to help defuse tensions.<\/p>\n

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi sent a letter to Secretary-General Guterres saying that \u201cfor domestic political reasons, India has deliberately ratcheted up its hostile rhetoric against Pakistan and created a tense environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pakistan’s U.N. Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi met later with Guterres at U.N. headquarters in New York and said she told him \u201cwe are on the cusp of a very dangerous situation in South Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting India’s threats \u201cto teach Pakistan a lesson,\u201d she said she stressed to Guterres that \u201cwe don’t want to go down this path.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to see a dialogue resume between Pakistan and India,\u201d Lodhi told AP. \u201cWe are ready to talk on terrorism, on Kashmir \u2013 all the issues which are outstanding between the two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said Guterres reminded her that he previously offered \u201chis good offices,\u201d but India didn’t accept.<\/p>\n

Lodhi said she also met with the Security Council president and asked him to informally brief members about the emerging situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re here to warn the international community that something much more dangerous can happen, and it’s important for at least the U.N. and the rest of the international community to step in and prevent further escalation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of External Affairs said it had no comment on Pakistan’s letter to the U.N.<\/p>\n

A senior Indian military official in Kashmir, Lt. Gen. K.J.S. Dhillon, on Tuesday told reporters that Indian forces killed the chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group behind the suicide bombing and a gunbattle Monday in Kashmir. Four Indian soldiers, three suspected militants, a police official and a civilian were killed in the clash.<\/p>\n

The leader was a Pakistani national by the name of Kamran, Dhillon said.<\/p>\n

Jaish-e-Mohammed is outlawed in Pakistan but thought to operate from safe havens there.<\/p>\n

Pakistan did not immediately comment on Dhillon’s remarks.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013\u2013<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Ashok Sharma in New Delhi, Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD \u2013 Pakistan’s prime minister offered to hold talks with India, even as he warned New Delhi to refrain from …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":201680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-munir-ahmed","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}