NL Correspondent
Lahore, Sept 02
Pakistan has tactical nuclear weapons as small as 125-250 grams which are capable of destroying a targeted area, Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad has claimed, amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions over Kashmir.
Rasheed, a known motor-mouth, told reporters in Nankana Sahib in Punjab province on Sunday that the Line of Control with India and other bilateral accords with New Delhi had been ended by Pakistan after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status.
Pakistan has as small as 125-250 gram atom bombs also, which may hit (and destroy) a targeted area,” The newspaper quoted the minister as saying after he inspected an under-construction railway station building.
His comments came as Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been harping on the possibility of a military confrontation between the two nuclear armed countries over the Kashmir issue.
He said India should avoid a war with Pakistan, lest it proves the last one between the two nuclear armed countries.
The minister, who suffered an electric shock on Friday while speaking against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally during the “Kashmir Hour”, said that if a war was imposed on Pakistan, India would be divided into 22 parts.
Reacting to Pakistan raising the nuclear issue frequently, the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson earlier this month noted that Islamabad would like to project a “panic situation” in South Asia.
“From their side, they would like to project a panic situation, the international community does not think there is a war like situation. It is a ploy to deflect attention,” the MEA spokesperson said in New Delhi on August 9.
Rasheed claimed that India committed “two blunders”: firstly, conducting atomic explosions with a wrong perception that Pakistan would not do so; secondly, it scrapped special status of Kashmir on August 5, believing Kashmiris would not react to it.
The railways minister, who cancelled the Samjhauta Express and Thar Express trains between the two countries after India's decision on Kashmir, said only result-oriented dialogue could be started with New Delhi.
He said, “a dialogue is possible if India takes a step towards resolving the Kashmir issue as per the United Nations resolutions”.
He claimed the Pakistan government and all Opposition parties were united and on one page on the issue of Kashmir.
Rasheed said while Pakistan was following the policy of peace, India had adopted an aggressive strategy.
Last week, he said that US President Donald Trump was “deceiving” both India and Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir.
Pakistan objected to revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and launched an aggressive tirade against India, though with little success on international forums. It would be interesting to recall that Pakistan abrogated – in the 1970s — a similar provision of special status enjoyed by the portion of Jammu and Kashmir it occupied in 1947 after invading the state and also annexed Gilgit Agency under direct federal rule in 1974 .
With frustration growing at its failure to secure international support over India's Kashmir move, Pakistan has resorted to war blackmail tactics. Prime Minister Imran Khan even wrote an op-ed article in the New York Times threatening a nuclear “direct military confrontation” between India and Pakistan with “consequences for the whole world” over Kashmir.
When Imran Khan's op-ed was published, many believed that he was only playing His Master's Voice. Now, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has proved it beyond doubt.
