Pakistan’s Moderates Threatening Nuclear War (Revelation 8 )

Indian paramilitary troops on patrol in Kashmir (Image: GETTY)

Kashmir crisis: Pakistan’s moderates threatening nuclear war over disputed region

FEARS of nuclear conflict between Pakistan an India have resurfaced after amid growing tensions over the disputed Kashmir region.

By SIMON OSBORNE

PUBLISHED: 13:26, Fri, Dec 20, 2019

UPDATED: 13:40, Fri, Dec 20, 2019

Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, a moderate in the Pakistani establishment and former ambassador to India, China and the US, is threatening nuclear war in support of Kashmir’s secessionists. Mr Qazi has suggested his country should hit back at India with weapons of mass destruction if to does not soften its stance on the disputed Himalayan region which was stripped of its semi-autonomous status and demoted from a state into a federal territory last summer.

He said: “Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent is meant to deter war not pursue war.

“But if the people of Kashmir are threatened with genocide, as indeed they are, Pakistan’s deterrent must cover them.”

It is not the first time Pakistani officials have spoken openly about the nuclear option to settle the Kashmir row.

Prime Minister Imran Khan stunned the UN General Assembly earlier this year when he urged the global community to act on Kashmir.

He said: “If the world does nothing to stop the Indian assault on Kashmir and its people, there will be consequences for the whole world as two nuclear-armed states get ever closer to a direct military confrontation.”

Pakistan’s sabre-rattling sparked a similarly aggressive response from Delhi with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh questioning India’s nuclear policy of “No First Use”.

Fears are growing of nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India (Image: GETTY)

India and Pakistan have gone to war twice overKashmir (Image: GETTY)

He said: “The future of India’s No First Use policy on nuclear weapons depends on circumstances.”

Growing fears of conflict come amid an ongoing crackdown in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has written another letter to the UN Secretary General, claiming that India has deployed and tested several types of missiles and could launch an attack against his country.

A foreign ministry spokesman said Mr Qureshi had “appraised the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary General on Indian actions that continue to escalate tensions in an already tense environment in South Asia”.

Mr Qureshi also warned India could launch “false flag” attack on Pakistan to divert the world’s attention from the “grave situation” in Kashmir.

India’s army chief, General Bipin Rawat, said the situation along the Kashmir LoC “can escalate any time” and accused Pakistan of fuelling the tensions.

He said: “The army is maintaining a high level of operational readiness, with detailed plans chalked out to cater for different contingencies.”

Both sides have threatened to use nuclear weapons in the dispute (Image: GETTY)

Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor responded with a warning of his own.

He said: “Pakistan armed forces shall befittingly respond to any Indian misadventure or aggression.”

Both countries claim Kashmir in its entirety and have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region.

They came close to a fourth war last February when a suicide bombing in Kashmir, allegedly planned by a Pakistani militant group, killed 40 Indian soldiers.