Pakistan alleges India preparing for ‘surgical strike’ against it

Pakistan’s government has alleged that India is preparing to launch a “surgical [military] strike” on Pakistani soil and has called for the international community to help de-escalate the situation between the nuclear-armed neighbours, according to Aljazeera.

Speaking to the press in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi on Friday, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi warned that Pakistan would retaliate if attacked, the broadcaster reports.

“I have learned through our intelligence sources and they have picked up this information that India is planning a surgical strike against Pakistan,” Qureshi was quoted as saying.

“This is a serious development and I also have knowledge that they have tried to seek tacit approval from important players who they consider to be their partners.”

The two countries have fought three full-scale wars since gaining independence from the British in 1947, with tensions remaining high in the relationship in the intervening periods, according to the report.

Both have been on a high state of military alert since a standoff in February 2019 that saw India bomb territory just inside Pakistan’s borders and Pakistan shoot down an Indian fighter jet, it says.

Pakistan later returned the pilot of the downed fighter aircraft, helping to reduce the immediate tensions, the report adds.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Qureshi warned that Pakistan would strike back at India “a notch above” if attacked, the broadcaster reports.

“I want to tell India very clearly that Pakistan is fully prepared to respond and to defeat their designs,” he was quoted as saying.

“We will do it effectively as we did respond immediately and effectively in February 2019. And we will respond effectively if they choose this path.”

India’s government did not offer any immediate comment on the allegations, Aljazeera reports.

Pakistan’s national security adviser Moeed Yusuf said Pakistan had obtained “very specific and reliable intelligence” of the Indian plans to launch strikes, according to the report.

“We remind the world that peace is a collective responsibility. The world must prevent India from destabilising the region in its attempt to divert attention from its domestic troubles,” Yusuf was quoted as saying.

The two countries frequently accuse each other of sponsoring armed groups or planning attacks against the other, according to the report.

In September 2016, India claimed to have carried out a “surgical strike” on Pakistan-administered Kashmir to hit armed groups linked to an earlier attack on Indian security forces in Uri town in the Indian-administered Kashmir, it says.

At the time, Pakistan denied Indian forces had ever entered Pakistan-controlled territory, the report adds.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s military and the foreign ministry said Indian forces fired on and damaged a UN vehicle in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Friday, the Qatar-based broadcaster reports.

“[The] Indian Army resorted to unprovoked fire in Chirikot Sector of LOC [Line of Control]. Indian troops deliberately targeted a United Nations vehicle with [two] military observers on board,” the military was quoted as saying in a statement.

The military also released images purportedly showing a bullet hole and other damage on the vehicle, Aljazeera reports.

The UN has so far not offered any comment on the incident, according to the report.

‘Catastrophic consequences’

Last month, the broadcaster reports, Pakistan shared an intelligence dossier with the international community which it said contained evidence of Indian sponsorship of armed groups operating on Pakistani soil.

While such allegations by both sides are common, the revelations were unprecedented in their specificity, including audio recordings and documents said to be tied to specific attacks, armed groups and armed groups’ leaders, the report observes.

Qureshi said the international community had been made aware of the Pakistani intelligence, according to the report.

“We have communicated this to important capitals,” he was quoted as saying. “We have shared the information that we have picked up with important capitals and they are fully aware of Indian designs and our resolve.”

He warned that any Indian attack on Pakistan could have “catastrophic consequences” and would “seriously undermine” the intra-Afghan peace process, which began in September and which Pakistan has been facilitating, according to the report.

“In our opinion, Pakistan feels that if they undertake this misadventure, it will seriously undermine the Afghan peace process, which has moved forward, and if things go wrong, India would be held responsible for this,” he was quoted as saying.

“I urge the global community to caution India to refrain and desist. And to not test Pakistan’s resolve.”