Pakistan could lose in a conventional war with India which could then be consequential in view that the two neighboring countries are nuclear-armed, country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Saturday.
In an exclusive interview to Al Jazeera, Khan said, “I am clear that when two nuclear-armed countries fight a conventional war, there is every possibility of it ending in a nuclear war. If I say Pakistan, God forbid, and in a conventional war, and we are losing, and if a country is stuck between two choices, either you surrender or fight to the death for your freedom.”
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“I know Pakistan will fight to the death for freedom (and) when a nuclear-armed country fights to the death, there are consequences,” he added.
He said that it was in consideration to these consequences that Pakistan approached the United Nations and other international fora on the Kashmir issue.
“So that’s why we have approached the United Nations, we are approaching every international forum, that they must act right now because this is a potential disaster that would go way beyond the Indian subcontinent,” said Khan.
Khan ruled out the possibility of dialogue with India in the aftermath of the country’s decision to abrogate Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Islamabad has downgraded its diplomatic ties and suspended bilateral trade with India as a way to remonstrate. India has maintained that the move on Kashmir is its “internal matter” – a stance that has been supported by many countries – and asked Pakistan to review these decisions so that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved.