ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Sunday Pakistan could have responded differently to an Indian missile that landed in its territory, though it decided to deal with the incident with great "wisdom."
The Pakistani military announced on Thursday it had spotted a supersonic flying object from India that had violated the country's airspace on March 9 before crashing into a civilian area.
The incident was also acknowledged by India that called it an "accidental firing," though Pakistan chastised officials in New Delhi for not informing Pakistan about the launch amid the region's nuclear environment.
Addressing a public rally in Hafizabad city, Khan responded to the development for the first time and said Pakistan was capable of dealing with such threats.
"An Indian missile flew into Pakistan the other day," he told a huge crowd of his party followers. "Pakistan responded with a lot of wisdom, though we could have done something else as well. But let me say this to you today: Our country can defend itself. It is on the right track now, and its economy is also going well."
Focusing on the domestic political issues, Khan urged people and state institutions to stand against "corrupt elements" in the country amid a no-confidence move against him which can bring an end to his administration.
The country's leading opposition parties filed the no-trust motion against him in the National Assembly Secretariat last week, saying they had adequate number of votes to topple the government which had lost its majority in the house and was becoming increasingly unpopular with people.
The prime minister, on the other hand, leveled accusations that opposition factions were offering huge sums of money to lawmakers belonging to the ruling party to vote against him when the motion was presented for voting in the National Assembly.
He said that Pakistanis “should stand with what is good” if they wanted to witness the rise of a great nation.
"When we see renowned people, those who are corrupt, criminals, those facing cases in courts, when these people band together to bring down the state, by using money to buy people, by buying people’s conscience through looted money, then it becomes the responsibility of the state to raise its voice against them," Khan said while making a veiled reference to opposition leaders, adding: "It is the responsibility of the people, the judiciary and election commission [to deal with them]."
Khan said he had been educating the masses for the last 25 years as a political leader to rise against the ill practices of people in power, adding it was the duty of all Pakistanis to stand with justice and fairness.
The prime minister also told people not to worry about the no-confidence motion, saying his government was not going to be dislodged.
