India is planning surgical strike, claims Pak minister

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has claimed that India was planning a surgical strike on its neighbouring country to divert attention from issues it has been facing at home.

Qureshi said during a press meet in Abu Dhabi on Friday that Islamabad had “credible information” that New Delhi was planning such a move. He said India was trying to seek “tacit approval” for the strike from its “partners”. He didn’t share any details.

In the press meet, which was held at the end of Qureshi’s twoday visit to the UAE, the Pakistan foreign minister said he has shared his country’s concerns on this front with the UAE leadership.

“An important development has cropped up… I’ve learned through our intelligence forces… that India is planning a surgical strike against Pakistan,” he said. He then claimed that India was “trying to seek tacit approval” from what he called “important players who they consider to be their partners”.

The Pakistan foreign minister claimed India was facing an internal crisis because of what he called failed policies of the government. He criticised the Indian government’s handling of multiple issues, pointing to the situation in Kashmir, the farmers’ protest, the coronavirus pandemic, and the state of religious minorities in India.

He also claimed that Pakistan has revealed that India was “sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan” in a dossier that it has shared with the international community.

Islamabad was “fully prepared to respond to and defeat India’s designs”, Qureshi said, adding that the information of an imminent strike on Pakistan had been shared with relevant governments, who have been briefed about “India’s plans” and Pakistan’s readiness to respond to them.

AFP SM Qureshi made the claim at a press meet in Abu Dhabi.