ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Inamul Haque, said here on Monday that the tensions between India and Pakistan had of late lessened, but went on to declare that our armed forces stood ready to meet any eventuality should that arise.

Mr Haque, back home after attending UN General Assembly and holding meetings with leaders of several member countries and senior US officials in New York and Washington, was asked at the weekly foreign office meeting whether India had redeployed its armed forces close to Pakistan’s border.

He replied: “I don’t think that they (Indians) need to redeploy their forces — they were already on our borders. There was some lessening in the tension for some months but the situation had not changed much. Pakistan continued to keep a close watch on the situation.”

To another question, he said contrary to expectations of US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and others, some Indian leaders’ recent statements indicated that perhaps a dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad might not take place soon, even after the questionable polls in the held Kashmir had ended.

He said he had also brought India’s aversion to dialogue to the US officials’ attention, who, like the rest of the international community, shared the hope that it would be possible for the Vajpayee government to resume dialogue with the government in Islamabad once the Indian-staged assembly elections in the occupied Kashmir were out of the way by early October.

When asked for official comments on the reported observation by Indian Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, suggesting a possible pre-emptive strike against Pakistan, he said while the Indian reported assertion was untenable under the UN charter, and the question was speculative in nature, he would declare that Pakistan would defend itself fully and effectively.

He explained that the UN charter did not permit pre-emptive strike except under article 37 and that, too, only under UN umbrella in case a country was faced with aggression. However, Mr Haque argued, it would be open to question whether a country’s view of an aggression was acceptable to the other.

The minister of state said that Pakistan, as a host, had proposed holding of the next Saarc summit from Jan 11 to 13 next year, hoping that all the seven member countries would positively respond to the Islamabad’s invitation.

He said so far he had got no official word about any Indian reservations on the proposed dates. He would meet Saarc secretary-general on Tuesday and hear about India’s response to the summit meeting in Islamabad.

He defended the amendments to the constitution introduced by the military government and asserted that the government was committed to holding free, fair and transparent polls.

He said the amendment concerning the role of the National Security Council in state affairs was legal under the Supreme Court ruling as also the amendment to the constitution’s article 58(2)(B) which empowered the president to remove the prime minister or disband the elected assembly using his discretion under certain circumstances.

The minister of state said he had also explained the constitutional amendments in his meeting with US National Security Adviser, Condolezza Rice. He added that both the amendments were authorized under the relevant SC ruling in order to establish checks and balances in the future operation of a democratic order in Pakistan.

About the growing threat to Iraq by the US and Britain, Mr Haque said Pakistan was keeping watch on the evolving situation and believed that the problem should be resolved peacefully by implementing the UN Security Council resolution.