WASHINGTON: “If India wants its army to talk with weapons, it will find our army fully capable and ready to respond,” says Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

Briefing the media on his four-day visit to Washington, the minister said that the International Monetary Fund was willing to release two tranches of $1.1 billion ($550 million each) in December.

He also explained how he held 44 meetings in four days with the World Bank, IMF and US officials and with finance ministers from friendly countries that have also come for autumn meetings of the World Bank Group. But the focus of the media representatives shifted rapidly when Mr Dar reacted strongly to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest statement: “This is not the time for empty boli (talk) by them, but for goli (bullet) by our jawans”.

In an earlier statement, Mr Modi had also said that when there’s a challenge at the border, “it is soldiers who answer with fingers on the trigger; it is not for politicians to respond”.

The finance minister recalled that since Mr Modi’s election, Pakistan had undertaken several peace initiatives but India never responded. “We do not want war because we have fought three wars since independence and nobody benefitted from those wars,” he said. “That’s why we are taking those peace initiatives but it takes two hands to clap,” said the minister while regretting India’s lack of interest in those initiatives.

“If a war is imposed, they will find us ready for it, although we prefer peace,” said Mr Dar. He said that it would be good for the entire region if India and Pakistan used their resources for building a better future for their peoples.

Know more: Pakistan capable of responding to Indian actions: Defence minister

Drones: The minister, who also held meetings with US officials during this visit, said the United States had clarified that recent drone strikes had taken place inside Afghanistan, not Pakistan.

The media, however, had reported that the missiles hit targets inside Fata, killing Pakistani civilians as well as militants.

“US officials told us that not a single missile was fired inside Pakistan, not even in Fata. They said they have videos to prove the missiles were fired inside Afghanistan,” Mr Dar said.

Referring to his talks with IMF officials, the minister said an agreement was reached with the Fund on combining the fourth and fifth reviews of the country’s economic performance.

The reviews will be over by the end of October and $1.1 billion will be released by December this year, he said.

Mr Dar said the country had already spent Rs46 billion on the relief of internally displaced persons from Zarb-i-Azb operation and on flood victims.

An additional Rs80 billion will be needed for flood relief and recovery while another major amount would be required for reconstruction in the areas affected by the Zarb-i-Azb operation.

The minister said that Pakistan held a donors’ conference in Islamabad recently to have an assessment of recovery and damage costs but had not made a formal request for aid.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2014