In yet another controversial declaration, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif asserted that his nation is “fully-prepared” for a two-front conflict with the Taliban on the western frontier and India on the eastern.
Speaking at a public event, Asif said, “We are ready for war on two fronts. We are ready, we are prepared to face both the eastern (India) and western border (Afghanistan). Allah helped us in round one and He will help us in round two”.
His comments followed a suicide explosion in Islamabad on Tuesday that claimed 12 lives and injured 36 more. The suicide attack has been attributed to the Pakistani Taliban (TTP). Khawaja Asif said that the blast was a message from the Afghan Taliban, but Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused organizations “active with Indian support” of being engaged in the incident. Asif’s current statements came after his divisive remarks regarding the recent automobile explosion in Delhi. He called the blast that killed 13 persons close to Red Fort a “gas cylinder explosion” and charged India with “politicizing the incident.”
“Until yesterday, it was a gas cylinder blast. Now they are trying to label it a foreign conspiracy. India could soon blame Pakistan for it,” Asif said.
Indian officials have dismissed his claims as “a desperate attempt to deflect attention”. Senior security officials stated that the Pakistani minister’s tone reflected “Islamabad’s nervousness”, especially as early forensic results revealed that the Delhi blast used a military-grade explosive.
