ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday rejected Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh’s “highly irresponsible, provocative and gratuitous remarks,” saying it was “fully prepared” to respond to any aggression but would continue to act responsibly, the Pakistani foreign office said.

On Saturday, Singh blamed Pakistan for destabilizing peace and warned that a “new, powerful India” would give it a befitting reply.

“Pakistan makes all efforts to destabilize peace in India but we have sent a clear message to them that we will hit back. This is a new and powerful India,” Indian media quoted Singh as saying at a rally in Uttarakhand state.

“We have given a clear message to our neighbor on the western border that if it crosses its limits, we will just not retaliate on the borders but can even cross over into its territory and do surgical and airstrikes.”

Late Sunday, the Pakistani foreign office said Singh’s remarks were “delusional” and “reflective of India’s characteristic hostility toward its neighbors.” 

“Pakistan is fully capable of defending itself against any aggression. The entire world was witness to Pakistan’s capability and resolve in thwarting the Indian misadventure in February 2019,” it said in a statement.

“India’s smear campaign against Pakistan has been totally exposed and discredited. It has no takers in the international community.”

There has been a freeze in Pakistan-India ties since the 2019 suicide attack in Pulwama area of Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 40 Indian soldiers in the single deadliest attack in the disputed region and pushed the two nuclear-armed neighbors to the brink of war.

Later that year, India revoked autonomy of the part of Kashmir it controls, and in response, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties and suspended bilateral trade. Since then, the relations between the two South Asian nations are at the lowest ebb.

Kashmir has been divided between Pakistan and India since their independence from the British rule in 1947. Both countries claim the region in its entirety and have fought two of their three wars over it.