ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Sunday his country’s preference for dialogue and diplomacy should not be viewed as a sign of weakness, adding that Pakistan’s security forces were capable of responding to any external aggression.

The prime minister issued the statement on the third anniversary of a brief but intense conflict with India that involved the fighter jets of the two countries. After a dogfight over Kashmir, Pakistan said it had downed two Indian aircraft on February 27, 2019, though New Delhi confirmed it had only lost one plane. India also maintained it had shot down a Pakistani F-16, though the claim was denied by Islamabad and international experts.

Only a day before the incident, the Indian administration had ordered an airstrike inside Pakistan and later announced it had destroyed a “militant training camp” of proscribed Jaish-e-Muhammad near the northern town of Jaba. Pakistan not only rejected the Indian assertion but also said it had carried out a series of retaliatory strikes of its own against military targets in six different locations of Indian-administered Kashmir.

It was in the aftermath of the Pakistani attack that the aerial dogfight began between the two countries in which an Indian MiG-21 fighter jet was shot down and Pakistan captured Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

The Indian pilot was handed over to his country as a “goodwill gesture” by the Pakistani authorities two days later.

“I have always believed in conflict resolution through dialogue & diplomacy,” the Pakistani prime minister wrote in a Twitter post. “That should never be taken as a sign of weakness. As we showed India on 27Feb2019, when it chose to attack us, our armed forces backed by the nation will respond to [military] aggression & prevail at all levels.”

“We are resolute & unwavering in our commitment to the security of our country and our nation,” he added.

The military’s media wing, ISPR, also Tweeted the Pakistani armed forces had given a “befitting response to Indian failed misadventure.”

It applauded the “operational preparedness of Armed Forces,” saying it defined “success in [the] face of adversity.”

Meanwhile, the foreign office of Pakistan reiterated the country’s resolve to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity at all cost.

“Today marks the third anniversary of Pakistan’s exemplary response to India’s ill-conceived military airstrikes inside its territorial airspace,” it said in a statement. “India, in utter violation of the United Nations Charter and International Law violated Pakistani airspace on 26 February 2019 and conducted airstrikes inside Pakistani territory.”

The statement maintained that Pakistan had always desired regional peace and stability, though it added that the country had “strong resolve and capability for self-defense.”

“27 February also serves as a lesson for India that none of its militarism and war-mongering jingoism will go without a befitting response,” the statement continued. “Besides, India must remain mindful of the consequences of its reckless conduct in February 2019 and refrain from any such misadventure in the future.”