Timely and correct move averted war with India, says Pak PM Imran Khan

Islamabad, March 7: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is in thick of action nowadays.

From warning India about retaliation to releasing an IAF pilot who got trapped on the Pakistani soil after his jet crashed as a 'peace gesture' to turning moderate over the demand for conferring him the Nobel in Peace, the cricketer-turned-politician said on Wednesday, March 6, that it was because of a timely and correct move that a war with India was avoided, Pakistan's The News International reported.

Relations between India and Pakistan plummeted in the wake of the suicide terror attack that killed over 40 CRPF jawans in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

Two weeks after that, the two neighbours got engaged in air skirmishes, downing each other's fighter jets, and now the debate is over the extent of damage the Indian jets have inflicted on Pakistani soil.

Speaking at a meeting of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf parliamentary party at the Prime Minister's Office ahead of the commencement of the National Assembly session, the 66-year-old Khan said the standoff with India had eased but a war was yet to be completely ruled out since the armed forces on both sides were still ready for the battle.

PM Khan also paid tributes to the armed forces of Pakistan and said the whole nation was proud of them. He also praised Islamabad's foreign office for working overtime during the tense hours and thanked his country's traditional friends for playing a role in de-escalating the tension.

DG Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor meanwhile said during an interview with the CNN that the ball was now in India's court following the release of Abhinandan Varthaman, the Indian pilot.