KARACHI, Dec 4: A faux pas by some official in the Ministry of Information of Azad Kashmir government, in which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was apparently misquoted, has resulted in a bitter controversy, prompting the Indian premier to issue a harsh statement on the consequences of a war between the two sub-continental states

The war-of-words started when a number of Pakistani newspapers, including Dawn, reported Premier Sharif to have said while addressing the AJK Council in Muzaffarabad that Kashmir was a flashpoint and that unless the issue was resolved there was a possibility of a fourth war between Pakistan and India on the unresolved dispute over Kashmir.

The Dawn’s report was entirely based on the press statement issued by the Ministry of Information of Azad Kashmir as Muzaffarabad journalists were not allowed inside the conference venue.

However, senior officials of the Information Ministry in Islamabad insist that the statement released in Muzaffarabad was factually incorrect as, according to them, the prime minister never made such a statement during his address at the AJK Council meeting.

“Prime minister never uttered these words,” said the statement. It went on to say that “the said news reports are strongly rebutted”.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office said “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is of the opinion that any issue of conflict between Pakistan and India has to be resolved through peaceful means”.

Senior officials at the Ministry of Information in Islamabad told Dawn that they were investigating how the prime minister was misquoted in a press release issued by the Information Department in Muzaffarabad! And, according to them, action will be taken against the person responsible for this serious lapse.