WASHINGTON: Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said on Thursday that Pakistan’s desire for peace and goodwill should not be misunderstood.

After several days of clashes in the disputed Kashmir region and along the Working Boundary, the defence minister’s office issued a statement in Islamabad, warning the Indians that Pakistan was capable of responding “befittingly” to their actions on the border.

The minister, who is visiting the United States, later spoke to Dawn and urged Indians not to further escalate the situation, noting that the Indians have also been violating the Working Boundary between the two countries.

“Our demonstration of goodwill and desire for peace should not be misunderstood,” he said. “We are still desirous to have lasting peace in the subcontinent and find a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue.”

Mr Asif recalled that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also expressed this desire in his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York two weeks ago.

“We are desirous of pursuing peace, but what India is doing is harming our efforts,” the minister said. “It is discouraging peace.”

Mr Asif refused to guess what was causing the Indians to demonstrate such a belligerent behaviour.

“I don’t know what are their compulsions,” he said while noting that India had also postponed talks between foreign secretaries of the two countries scheduled in May.

“These violations, the loss of life and property, it is a bad omen for peace in the subcontinent,” he said.

Mr Asif said that Prime Minister Sharif made “a great gesture of peace and goodwill” by visiting New Delhi to attend the inauguration of his Indian counterpart earlier this year.

The prime minister did so because “he believes there are benefits in peace for the common people of the subcontinent and that it creates an environment for meeting their basic needs.”

The defence minister pointed out that both India and Pakistan were nuclear states and must behave responsibly.

“What Indians are doing is not befitting to a nuclear state. It is against the spirit of democracy and it does not suit a big economic power,” he said. “They must behave like the way they are required to.”

Asked if the PM’s UNGA speech, in which he raised the Kashmir issue, had upset the Indians, the defence minister said Mr Sharif had only reiterated Pakistan’s stated position for the last 67 years. The speech also highlighted the prime minister’s commitment to the Kashmir cause, he added.

“We have not said anything beyond our stated position and whatever the PM said was in accordance with UN resolutions on Kashmir.”

Asked if this war-mongering would soon end and good sense would prevail, Mr Asif said: “We hope that this is a temporary phase. It will fizzle out and we will return to more constructive measure for building peace.”

Talking about the dangers of an India-Pakistan dispute flaring into a nuclear conflict, Mr Asif said: “There must be a realisation, on the part of the Indian government, that it becomes incumbent upon states possessing nuclear weapons to demonstrate responsibility and caution.”

In the earlier statement issued by his office, the minister said that Pakistan did not want the situation on the borders of two nuclear neighbours to escalate into a confrontation.

“India must demonstrate caution and behave with responsibility,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2014