India wants to trigger war, says Pak Army spokesperson
Armed forces are fully prepared to respond any aggression, Lt Gen Asim Bajwa briefed reporters.
BAGHSAR (Dunya News) – Director General ISPR Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa on Saturday said that India is ‘trying to trigger war.’
Briefing the media persons in Baghsar, Asim Bajwa said the country’s armed forces are fully prepared to respond any aggression but war is not in anybody’s interest.
The Pak Army spokesperson told journalists that the Indian side would have suffered causalities but it is hiding details in this regard.
He once again rejected the Indian claim of surgical strikes within Pakistani territory.
WATCH VIDEO:
NEW INDIA-PAKISTAN SALVOS AS UN CHIEF OFFERS TO MEDIATE
Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fresh fire across their border Saturday as UN chief Ban Ki-moon offered to mediate between the nuclear-armed neighbours following an alarming spike in tensions.
Although there were no reports of casualties, the pre-dawn exchanges heightened the fear among villagers living along the border.
ISPR said Pakistani troops had "befittingly responded to Indian unprovoked firing" in the Bhimber sector on the Pakistani side.
The two countries, who were separated at birth at the end of British colonial rule in 1947, have fought three full-blown wars in the last seven decades -- including two over Kashmir.
The Himalayan region is at the heart of the latest tensions which have been mounting in the last three months.
Since a charismatic Kashmiri separatist was shot dead by Indian soldiers in early July, more than 80 civilians have been killed in the region, many of whom had joined street protests in defiance of a curfew order.
Pakistani envoy, Maleehi Lodhi, met Ban at UN headquarters in New York overnight to ask the veteran diplomat to intervene personally.
Ban called on "both sides to exercise maximum restraint and take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation", a statement from his spokesman said after the meeting.
The UN chief said India and Pakistan should address differences through diplomacy and dialogue, and offered to mediate.
"His good offices are available, if accepted by both sides," the UN spokesman said.
Speaking to AFP, Lodhi said: "The time has come for bold intervention by him if we are to avoid a crisis, because we can see a crisis building up."
.... with inputs from AFP
