Islamabad: Speculations about war hysteria in India in the aftermath of the Uri terror attack seemed running high among people in Pakistan. According to media reports India is caught up in a tidal wave of war hysteria, shaped in part by macho posturing of its political and military leaders and fired up the wild imagination of its 'jingoistic' media. Saner voices, though a few, are being drowned in the cacophony of belligerent frenzy.
'The sabre-rattling began after militants mounted a deadly attack on an Indian military base in Uri, in Jammu and Kashmir state on Sunday', a report from Karachi appeared in the Express Tribune today said, adding "New Delhi jumped the gun, blamed Pakistan for the assault and started making menacing statements. "Going a step further on Thursday, the Indian army moved heavy artillery to forward bases along the 778-km Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir,Indian military officials confirmed to BBC Urdu that large-calibre guns, including Bofors, have been deployed at forward positions in the region to target Pakistani defences", the report said.
However, Indian military sources added they were not preparing for war, but the latest exercises were carried out “to preempt any assault in future”. “The army continues to upgrade its operational readiness all along the LoC, with redeployment of troops and some forward movement of ammunition and fuel dumps,” the newspaper said quoting a media report. Though officials in Islamabad don’t see an imminent threat of war, Pakistani fighter jets have been conducting high-profile landing and take-off exercises on motorways for the past two days.
“The defenders of our skies in a state of constant readiness, Alha mdolillah..,..Our motorways are our runways', Defence Minister Khawaja Asif wrote on his official Twitter handle. Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria,however, played down the media hype about ‘routine exercises’ but said the armed forces and the entire nation of Pakistan remain ready to defend country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity at all costs. According to BBC Urdu, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent Thursday at a military operation room where he monitored the Indian army’s movement along the LoC. (UNI)