Pak asks US to advise Delhi on ‘irresponsible remarks’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday protested to the US against what it described as the Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat’s “irresponsible” remarks and the “pattern of escalation” on the LoC and called on Washington to advise New Delhi to exercise restraint.
On Friday, Indian Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said his force is ready to call Pakistan’s “nuclear bluff” and cross the border for operations if ordered to do so by the government.
“We will call the bluff of Pakistan. If we have to really confront the Pakistanis, and a task is given to us, we are not going to say we cannot cross the border because they have nuclear weapons. We will have to call their nuclear bluff,” Rawat had said.
Foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua raised the tensions with India during a meeting with visiting US acting assistant secretary of state Alice Wells. Wells is the first top American official to travel to Islamabad since the US suspended security-related aid worth nearly $2 billion over Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts.
Janjua drew the US delegation’s attention to the “recent irresponsible statement by the Rawat and the pattern of escalation by India” on the LoC and the international boundary. She also condemned Indian mortar attacks on Pakistani posts that resulted in the death of several Pakistani soldiers on Sunday.
“She (Janjua) asked the US side to advise restraint to India and stop its escalation tactics,” said a statement issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Office.
Wells’ visit to Pakistan was described by the Foreign Office as part of the regular engagement between the two sides on bilateral and regional cooperation. Wells was accompanied by officials from the US National Security Council and ambassador David Hale. Besides the tensions with India, Janjua and Wells discussed ways to take forward Pakistan-US relations, which are at a new low following the suspension of American security assistance and President Donald Trump’s accusation that Islamabad had given nothing but “lies and deceit” even after getting $33 billion in aid since 2002.