“What that has allowed is for an opportunity for a sort of a more nuanced response on the part of Pakistan,” he said adding that there would have been “enormous pressure” on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to retaliate had the Indian government spoken of how far they went across the LoC or how many people were killed in the strikes.
‘Only few TV channels want Indo-Pak to fight a war’
Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said he doesn’t see any imminent war looming between India and Pakistan despite the heightened tensions along the LoC.
According to reports, Omar said he believed the two countries are a “lot more careful” about the prospect of war than some of the news channels would like them to be.
“I don’t believe we are,” Abdullah said when asked whether India and Pakistan are at the brink of war. I am not one of those who see imminent war looming in the sub-continent. I’d like to believe that both governments in New Delhi and Islamabad are a lot more careful about the prospect of war than perhaps some of our TV channels would like them to be,” he said at a conference titled ‘India and Pakistan: A Sub continental Affair’ organized by the students of New York University.
Abdullah said while there is tension along the Line of Control (LoC) and the ceasefire is “under a bit more pressure” than it was at the same time last year, India and Pakistan are not at the brink of war.
Abdullah noted that the government of India has been very careful “in moderating how it has sold” to the rest of the world the surgical strikes conducted across the Line of Control.
“The government of India has been very careful in explaining what they have done post the Uri militant attack. They have told the world this (surgical strikes) was an anti-terror operation conducted in the vicinity of the LoC,” he said.
“What that has allowed is for an opportunity for a sort of a more nuanced response on the part of Pakistan,” he said adding that there would have been “enormous pressure” on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to retaliate had the Indian government spoken of how far they went across the LoC or how many people were killed in the strikes.
Abdullah said heightened tensions between India and Pakistan adds to the “mood of gloom” in the Valley because “no state more than Jammu and Kashmir suffers on account of a downturn in relations between India and Pakistan”. (PTK)
