April 15, 2003
Stepping up the rhetoric, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has said that Pakistan would go to "any extent" if attacked by India under the doctrine of pre-emption.
"Tension between India and Pakistan is quite dangerous because both are nuclear powers, and secondly when it came to the sustenance and the defence of the country, we would go to any extent," Jamali told Star TV in an interview, carried on PTV on Monday night.
Referring to a question about External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha's remarks on pre-emptive strikes, he said "I am not worried. Pakistan is fully capable of defending itself. We know how to defend ourselves and we will not allow any pre-emptive strike as far as Pakistan is concerned."
Criticising the Indian government for blaming Pakistan for all that happened in India, he said "If I have to defend myself I would go to any extent, especially in the situation as Sinha says a pre-emptive attack and of course I have to be alert and defend myself."
He said Pakistan would not start war with India and it preferred to resolve issues through dialogue. "we will not start the war - we do not want any escalation along the borders of India and Pakistan. We have always been saying that and always been offering to hold dialogue," he said.
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