Pakistan Hints It Was Ready for Nuclear War
KARACHI, Pakistan — Pakistan’s president seemed to suggest Monday that he had been prepared to use nuclear weapons against India this year, but a spokesman later said that was not what he meant when he spoke of unconventional war.
In a speech to Pakistan Air Force veterans, President Pervez Musharraf said he personally sent messages to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee through visiting leaders that if Indian troops moved a single step across the border, “they should not expect a conventional war from Pakistan.”
Musharraf’s comments appeared to confirm fears voiced last winter that the world was close to witnessing war between the two nuclear-armed rivals. But hours later, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi said Musharraf meant that the people and the army would “neutralize the enemy’s offensive.”
“Nowhere did he say that Pakistan would use nuclear weapons at all,” Qureshi said.
India and Pakistan sent hundreds of thousands of troops to their disputed border after a deadly attack on India’s Parliament last December.
New Delhi blamed Islamabad for helping to mastermind the assault. Pakistan denied playing any part.
Tensions eased recently as both sides said they were pulling back troops.
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