'Military incursion by India imminent': Pakistan defence minister amid tensions over Pahalgam terror attack

Pak Defence Minister warns of imminent Indian military move

Amid the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif on Monday said that a military incursion by India was imminent.

“We have reinforced our forces because it is something which is imminent now. So in that situation some strategic decisions have to be taken, so those decisions have been taken,” Asif told Reuters in an interview.

Asif said the Pakistani military had briefed the government on the possibility of an attack by the Indian Army.

He said Pakistan was on high alert and that it would only use its arsenal of nuclear weapons if “there is a direct threat to our existence”.

In the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan, as expected, vehemently denied any involvement. Islamabad condemned the attack and reiterated its commitment to fighting terrorism. However, these denials ring increasingly hollow in the face of mounting evidence and historical precedent.

In the aftermath of the bloodbath in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam – 26 innocent lives lost – the familiar denials from Islamabad ring hollow. India and the international community have been pointing finger at Pakistan, not just a passive harbourer of terror groups, but as an active sponsor and facilitator of their operations.

The Resistance Front - a proxy outfit of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Asif, in an interview to Sky News last week, admitted that Pakistan has been "sponsoring and funding terrorism and terror groups" for the past three decades, ostensibly at the behest of the United States and the West, is a significant departure from the usual denials.

Islamabad has been making contradictory statements while denying its involvement in the terror attack. Following the attack, India retaliated with a raft of measures, including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the terror attack.

Islamabad said that any move to divert water meant for it under the Indus Water Treaty will be considered an "Act of War" as it announced the suspension of trade, bilateral accords, including the Simla Agreement, and airspaces with India, among other moves.