LONDON: India’s high commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami has said that India’s conflict with Pakistan could end right now if Pakistan takes the opportunity of an “off-ramp”.
“If Pakistan stops attacking our military facilities, the matter ends there. But it is for them to decide,” he told Sky’s Yalda Hakim on Thursday.
“We have made it abundantly clear we are not looking for an escalation. But if Pakistan responds, we will respond along exactly the same lines. We did not attack their military. As they have now started trying to attack our military bases, we have hit back at their air defence systems.”
He said the original escalation was the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack at Pahalgam. “Our response was focused solely on terrorist infrastructure. The object of this exercise was clearly to avoid military escalation.”
Hakim referred to a Reuters report claiming Pakistan aircraft had shot down Indian fighter jets. “There is no evidence of that. We haven’t confirmed any such thing,” he said.
“You had the Pakistan defence minister on your show who said the evidence for that was on social media. If it satisfies Pakistan’s ego to say they have done something, they could have used that as an off-ramp . But they chose not to and have continued to escalate. What is Pakistan retaliating about? They are retaliating against attacks on terrorism infrastructure so what does that tell you of their relationship with terror groups?”
Asked if India was concerned at the loss of a Rafale jet, he said “We don’t know if this has happened. As a famous British admiral once said, the purpose of military hardware is that it has been used. If Pakistan escalates, we have the capacity to really punish them harder.”
When asked if India funded the Baloch Liberation Army, he pulled out a photo of US-designated terrorist Hafiz Abdul Rauf, brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, at a funeral for terrorists killed in Operation Sindoor, with the Pakistani military present and coffins draped in Pakistan’s national flag.
“If you are going to give terrorists state funerals, what does that make of your system? The simple solution is for the international community to tell Pakistan it has an opportunity for an off-ramp. The world should have compelled Pakistan 30 years ago to take down this infrastructure. They have not done so.”
“If Pakistan stops attacking our military facilities, the matter ends there. But it is for them to decide,” he told Sky’s Yalda Hakim on Thursday.
“We have made it abundantly clear we are not looking for an escalation. But if Pakistan responds, we will respond along exactly the same lines. We did not attack their military. As they have now started trying to attack our military bases, we have hit back at their air defence systems.”
He said the original escalation was the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack at Pahalgam. “Our response was focused solely on terrorist infrastructure. The object of this exercise was clearly to avoid military escalation.”
Hakim referred to a Reuters report claiming Pakistan aircraft had shot down Indian fighter jets. “There is no evidence of that. We haven’t confirmed any such thing,” he said.
“You had the Pakistan defence minister on your show who said the evidence for that was on social media. If it satisfies Pakistan’s ego to say they have done something, they could have used that as an off-ramp . But they chose not to and have continued to escalate. What is Pakistan retaliating about? They are retaliating against attacks on terrorism infrastructure so what does that tell you of their relationship with terror groups?”
Asked if India was concerned at the loss of a Rafale jet, he said “We don’t know if this has happened. As a famous British admiral once said, the purpose of military hardware is that it has been used. If Pakistan escalates, we have the capacity to really punish them harder.”
When asked if India funded the Baloch Liberation Army, he pulled out a photo of US-designated terrorist Hafiz Abdul Rauf, brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, at a funeral for terrorists killed in Operation Sindoor, with the Pakistani military present and coffins draped in Pakistan’s national flag.
“If you are going to give terrorists state funerals, what does that make of your system? The simple solution is for the international community to tell Pakistan it has an opportunity for an off-ramp. The world should have compelled Pakistan 30 years ago to take down this infrastructure. They have not done so.”
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