Immediate response to India will benefit Pakistan: Musharraf

DUBAI: Former army chief and ex-president General (Retd.) Pervez Musharraf said that Islamabad must give immediate response to New Delhi as it will be more beneficial for Pakistan, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

Responding latest intrusion by Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft on Line of Control (LoC), Musharraf said, “We can give major damage to them [India] too in response of any loss on ceasefire line. We must start devising plans to find areas from where we could target India.”

The former army chief urged to adopt tit-for-tat rule, saying that preparations should be completed to intrude in other’s territory if India was trespassing Pakistani borders. He said, “I had always maintain stance not to tease us otherwise it would be quite troublesome for you.”

Musharraf said rapid response forces should be prepared to launch attack on second spot if India showed aggression against Pakistan. He also suggested authorities to control tensed situation by using its allies.

He claimed that Pulwama attack was self-planned by India but allegations were being levelled against Pakistan. Musharraf said that New Delhi was hastily attempting to get back its berth after facing isolation internationally despite propagating against Pakistan. He added that Kulbhushan Jadhav case exposed Indian conspiracies against neighbouring country on international level.

Taking aim at Indian leadership, the former president said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was fooling his nation as he was afraid of defeat of BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] in forthcoming elections following rising popularity of Congress while the political party also faced defeat in five states. He added that Indian politicians have always used same tactics of creating anti-Pakistan environment to utilise its benefits in polls.

“Pakistan is completely ready for its defence at any time. I am much sure of befitting response by Pakistan Air Force if India sends its [fighter] planes in our territory. PAF is possessing capability of best response time, however it should be more good.”

PAF scrambles Indian jets

In the wee hours of February 26, Indian aircraft intruded the LoC near Muzaffarabad sector, however they scrambled back following timely response from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor informed in a tweet, Indian Air Force violated the LoC and the prompt response from the Pakistan Air Force compelled Indian jets to go back.

He said “facing timely and effective response from the PAF, [Indian jets] released [their] payload in haste while escaping, which fell near Balakot.” However, no casualties or damage was reported during the incident, DG ISPR added.