In a highly provocative comment, Pakistan Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Wednesday that a full-blown war between Pakistan and India was on the cards. His remarks came even as the tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours remains high since New Delhi revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing the media in Rawalpindi, Rashid said the war is likely to break out either in October or in November.
“Time has come for Kashmir's final freedom struggle,” he said and asserted that this would be the final war between India and Pakistan.
Labelling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a fascist and barbarian, he wondered why the Muslim world was silent over the issue. The Gulf countries have largely remained silent over India's move on Kashmir, with the UAE going a step further to term it as an internal matter of India.
“Kashmir is on the brink of destruction due to barbarian and fascist Narendra Modi, and Pakistan is the only obstacle in front of him,” Rashid was quoted as saying by the Dunya News.
With Islamabad's efforts to get the international community to intervene in Kashmir yielding no results, the minister accused the United Nations of being not serious in resolving the issue and dismissed the possibility of a dialogue between the two countries. The minister also urged the Pakistanis to stand by the people of the Kashmir Valley.
China's support
Thanking China for its continued support to Pakistan over a host of issues, Rashid said: “We are lucky to have a friend like China." It was after Beijing's insistence that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held a closed door discussion on Kashmir, though all the members, except China, contended that Kashmir was a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.
Rashid's remarks are the latest in a series of war threats from the Pakistani side ever since India on August 5 abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two Union territories.
On Monday, while addressing the nation, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan sought to remind India that both countries have nuclear weapons.
On Tuesday, Pakistan closed three aviation routes of Karachi airspace, a day after the government's announcement that it was mulling a complete ban on the use of the country's airspace by Indian flights.
