NEW DELHI, March 24: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said there was no question of Pakistan thinking of militarily attacking India and ruled out prospects of a nuclear war with the neighbour as a mad man’s belief. “Today the two countries have reached a position where they are in a position to defend themselves. Well, we never had any false notions. India is a bigger country; only a mad man can think of attacking India,” Mr Kasuri told India’s NDTV news channel in remarks released on Thursday. Referring to Pakistan’s military prowess, he said: “We have had that level of deterrence in Pakistan, whether it’s conventional or nuclear, so we have achieved that. We are not going to compete with India, if India wants 500 aircraft they can get it, it depends on their economy.”

Mr Kasuri spoke to NDTV in Islamabad, a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit.

Asked if he had focused on India’s quest for UNSC membership, Mr Kasuri said Pakistan had conveyed its military requirements. “We are not hungry for arms but we do want definitively some sort of conventional balance…Because both are nuclear powers, we don’t want to think of using nuclear weapons, only a mad man will think of using nuclear weapons, if now you are not to do that what does it mean, it mean that you must have a conventional balance.”

Mr Kasuri reaffirmed Pakistan’s position on withdrawing soldiers from the Siachen Glacier. “It is very inhospitable environment. I think it shows a degree of callousness on part of the leadership.”