Wars are miscalculated, let’s talk: Pakistan PM tells India

  ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday reiterated his offer of dialogue to arch-rival India to resolve all outstanding issues, including terrorism, adding that wars are miscalculated and lead to destruction.
His statement follows an incident earlier in the day where the Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian jets across the Line of Control, or the defacto border between the nuclear-armed neighbors, and captured two pilots in a bid to demonstrate their right, will, and self-defense capabilities.
“Let’s sit together and resolve our problems through dialogue,” the prime minister asked the Indian leadership in a televised address after chairing a high-level meeting of the National Command Authority which oversees Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
Tensions have dramatically escalated between the nuclear-armed neighbors since Indian fighter jets violated Pakistan’s airspace and struck what New Delhi said was a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Balakot, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The JeM claimed responsibility of a suicide bombing in the Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir on February 14 in which more than 40 paramilitary troops were killed.
Prime Minister Khan said that he had “offered peace to India after what happened in Pulwama. I understood the pain of the families (who lost family members in the incident).”
“We offered India our complete cooperation in the investigations, as this is not in Pakistan’s interest to let its soil to be used against any other country,” he said, adding “but I feared that India will do a misadventure due to upcoming elections.”
Referring to the shooting down of the two Indian MiG aircrafts in the morning, Khan said: “No sovereign country can allow violation of its sovereignty. I had told India of retaliation.”
“The sole purpose of our action was to convey that if you can come into our country, we can do the same,” he said, adding that as per the plan “we ensured that no collateral damage or casualty is made [during the retaliation].”
Pakistan and India have fought two full-fledged wars in 1965 and 1971 over the disputed Kashmir region, but the issue continues to remain unresolved and is a flash-point between the two countries.
“It is of utmost important to exercise wisdom and acumen [to avoid the war],” he said, “all wars are miscalculated and no one knows where they lead to.”
Addressing his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, the prime minister said: “With the weapons you have and the weapons we have, can we really afford such a miscalculation.”
Extending the offer of dialogue to India, the premier said: “Better sense should prevail.”
Security and defense analysts have hailed the prime minister’s offer of dialogue to India to de-escalate the dispute with its neighbor.
“It is now up to India whether it engages with Pakistan for dialogue to resolve the issues peacefully or keeps trumpeting the warmongering mantra,” Tahir Malik, an academic and analyst, told Arab News.