LAHORE, May 18: Pakistan has made “full military preparations to the extent required” to meet any war imposed by India.

This was stated by ISPR Director-General Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi while briefing senior journalists and columnists here on Saturday.

He said that India would think a hundred times before launching a full-scale war against Pakistan. “I think India will not launch a full-scale war, but there is a danger of Indian attack on Azad Kashmir and the Working Boundary,” he added. He said that artillery fire which had stopped during the past one year or so had been resumed by India at the Line of Control and it was now hitting the civilian population.

Gen Qureshi, however, explained that he was not ruling out the possibility and probability of a full-scale war and “we are prepared to meet any threat.”

He said that India had started medium artillery fire at about 8am on Saturday targeting the civilian population. There was intense shelling on Friday, and on Saturday India asked Pakistan to withdraw its High Commissioner from New Delhi though the diplomatic relations were still intact. All these events indicated that India wanted to aggravate the situation, he said, but warned “India must remember that Pakistan is not Palestine which can be easily attacked”.

He said that any attempt of hot pursuit by India across Azad Kashmir might also lead to a war.

However, he pointed out, due to difficult terrain and mountainous region India was not in a position to make a thrust into Azad Kashmir where aircraft and tanks could not be used like occupied Palestine where Israelis were freely using such weapons.

Referring to the Jammu incident, Gen Qureshi debunked the Indian propaganda that Pakistan was involved in it.

He asked why Pakistan should commit an action which would cause harm to it and benefit India? He said that India had no proof of Pakistanis’ involvement.

Recovery of mere chocolate wraps bearing “made in Pakistan” words could not be a valid proof.

How could terrorists carry with them their identity symbols? he asked.

Why would they fire on a passenger bus when they were on a mission to attack a military camp and why would they kill women and children?

Gen Qureshi was of the view that the bus had been hit by the firing of the Indian troops.