ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday said India was planning a “false-flag operation” to blame Pakistan, warning New Delhi of a strong reaction if it conducted such a “drama”.
Speaking to the media in Sialkot, Asif said: “They [plan] some kind of false-flag operation through their own men or through the Pakistanis in their detention by laying down some bodies somewhere and saying they were terrorists and had done so and so.
“The kind of insult they faced around a year ago […] the entire world, in fact, their own public, taunts them that they are five times larger than Pakistan in every aspect — population, resources, military, airforce,” he added.
The minister asserted that the Indian leadership would keep facing such backlash “till the end of the world”, recalling the Pakistan Air Force’s performance during the conflict with India last year.
“If they try to enact such a drama this time, then God-willingly, we will take them to Kolkata,” he added, referring to the eastern Indian city near the border with Bangladesh.
Speaking to the media, Asif also expressed hope that Pakistan’s efforts to mediate peace talks between the US and Iran would succeed.
Pakistan has recently stepped into a significant diplomatic role amid rising tensions between the US and Iran, offering to host direct talks between the two sides.
“Pakistan is playing an important role in the ongoing US-Iran negotiations,” the defence minister said.
He added that Pakistan aims to promote “regional stability” and hopes the ongoing negotiations will lead to a resolution of disputes.
The minister’s remarks come days after security sources warned that India was preparing for a false flag operation against Pakistan, which reportedly entailed exploiting Pakistani citizens captured after inadvertently crossing the border.
On Thursday, Asif had also reminded his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh that the “illusion of space for war between two nuclear states is inconceivable and has drastic consequences”.
The reprimand was ostensibly in reaction to Singh’s recent statement, in which he warned Pakistan against any attempted “misadventure” under the shadow of the ongoing Middle East war, as reported by Indian media.
“Repeated rhetoric reflects not strength, but visible strategic anxiety as the anniversary of the staged false-flag operation in Pahalgam approaches — an episode that failed to withstand international scrutiny and exposed New Delhi’s reliance on manufactured crises,” Asif had said in a post on X, in which he did not specifically refer to the statement but tagged Singh.
