Pakistan tones down war hysteria under international pressure

Islamabad, Dec.27 (ANI): Amid rising international pressure, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his country does not want a military confrontation with India.

'We don't want to have aggression with our neighbours. We want to have friendly relations with our neighbours. I assure you once again that we will not act. We will only react," the Dawn quoted Gilani, as saying.

He was speaking at a special prayer ceremony to mark the first death anniversary of the former premier Benazir Bhutto. Bhutto was assasinated in a suicide attack while she was leaving an election campaign rally on 27 December 2007.

However, Gilani warned India of severe consequences in case Pakistan was provoked.

'We will not be the people who will be the first to take any sort of misadventurism but at the same time we are capable of defending our own dear country," he said.

Fears of war between the two arch-rivals gained momentum after reports of mass movement of Pak troops along the border came in on December 26. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called in all the three military chiefs the same day to discuss strategy in case a war was declared. (ANI)