War not a feasible option, says recalled High Commissioner
By Nasir Jamal
LAHORE, May 25: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, who has been recalled on Indian demand, drove back here on Saturday through Wagah, hoping that Indians would not thrust war upon Pakistan because it was not a “feasible option.”
“Though sometimes the domestic political situation (in India) forces its leaders to adopt a threatening posture and coercive diplomacy towards us, I hope that peace will prevail,” he said while replying to questions by reporters on his arrival at Wagah. Pakistan was, however, ready for all kinds of situations, he added.
“How can you keep war a limited affair? They (Indians) are very well aware of the fact that it would be difficult to control the war once it starts,” he replied to a questioner.
In reply to a question about the international fears of a nuclear clash between the two South Asian neighbours, he said: “We also have the capability and determination to defend our homeland but we are not going for a nuclear war. We can defend ourselves even in a conventional war. Everyone knows that we have developed our nuclear programme in reaction to the Indian threat. This is precisely why we have already offered India to negotiate nuclear, missiles and arms restraint regimes to reduce the capabilities of both the nations to a mutually agreed levels.”
In reply to a query, the diplomat said he was not aware of the Indian reaction to Pakistan’s missile test carried out earlier in the morning. “Pakistan has its own missile development programme. We have offered India to negotiate a treaty to avoid arms race. If they don’t respond to it, then we have every right to continue to improve our defence capabilities.”
He did not agree with a reporter that the test would heighten tensions between the two neighbours already on the brink of war. “We have a long-term missile development programme. Today’s test has nothing to do with the persisting border tensions with India.”
Qazi, who has served as Pakistan’s high commissioner to India for what he describes as five long, good and tough years, has been recalled by Islamabad on New Delhi’s demand. The demand was made following a suicide attack on a bus in Jammu last week.
It may be recalled that the Indian government had recalled its high commissioner to Pakistan following an attack on the parliament building in December. Pakistan had chosen not to retaliate by recalling its envoy.
Replying to a query, Qazi said India had invoked the principle of “reciprocity” while requesting Islamabad that he may be recalled. Describing it as a negative step, he hoped that no more negative measures would be taken by the Indians. He said the principle of reciprocity was invoked by a country generally when another country expelled its envoy. “But if a country requests another to recall its ambassador, the request has to be accepted.”
The high commissioner, who was accompanied by his mother, said his wife and children had been allowed another two weeks in New Delhi to “pack up the things.” He said from Lahore he was not going to Islamabad but to Quetta to escort his mother to their village in Pishin.
In reply to a question, he ruled out his return to India as he had served there for quite long. “Theoretically, I can go back. Practically, I would not,” he said. The people of India did not want war, he said, adding that they wanted normal relations with Pakistan. But they had developed a negative perception about Pakistan due to lack of information or propaganda by their media, he remarked.
Asked about Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s statements made during his visit to the occupied Kashmir, he said the BJP leader
gave two entirely different statements while addressing two different kinds of audience.
While speaking to the Indian troops, Mr Vajpayee had urged them to brace themselves for a decisive fight (to stop the alleged cross-border terrorism). On the very next day, however, he had told a press conference that the “sky was clear of war clouds though lightning could strike even if weather was clear.”
Qazi said he did not want to get into analysing the Indian leader’s statements. However, he said, one must remember that the (political) leaders have a number of constituents to address.
He did not agree with the Indian claim that Pakistan had done nothing since President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s speech on Jan 12 after India stepped up pressure in the aftermath of attack on its parliament building.
LAHORE, May 25: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, who has been recalled on Indian demand, drove back here on Saturday through Wagah, hoping that Indians would not thrust war upon Pakistan because it was not a “feasible option.”
