Pakistan won’t back down after all:
Pakistan said on Tuesday that it will not hand over any suspects in the Mumbai bombings to India and warned that while it wanted peace with its neighbour, it was ready for war if New Delhi decided to attack.
The remarks come amid mounting tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours after India said it was keeping all options open following last month’s carnage in Mumbai, where 172 people were killed and more than 300 wounded.
“We do not want to impose war, but we are fully prepared in case war is imposed on us,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.
The ball’s in India’s court now. Things certainly look scary — reminiscent, as I’ve said before, of October 2002 or Summer 1914 — but I still don’t expect war. Beating Pakistan would mean taking responsibility for Pakistan, and India just can’t afford that.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member