Pakistan Foreign Minister says accidental firing of missile by India could have led to war

Representational image (IANS)

Speaking on the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan government, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday raised the issue of the accidental misfire of a missile from India into Pakistan in early March, saying that the accidental firing of the missile could have escalated into a full-fledged war between the two nuclear countries.

The Foreign Minister was speaking after the House resumed its proceedings on the no-confidence motion at around 2:30 pm (local time), following an adjournment of the session in the morning after a ruckus in the House.

"They said that it was an accidental fire... I have written to the President of the Security Council, and I have written to the Secretary-General of the United Nations... that accidental fire, could have led to an accidental war, between two neighbours who are atomic powers," Qureshi said, adding that "the reaction time is not hours, its just minutes... It's such a dangerous game that India has played."

Referring to India, Qureshi said, "Where are the protocols, where was the "self-destructing system"? That missile was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. "The Pakistani authorities had earlier demanded that the world community asks India to ensure that its military equipment is safe. Diverting from the issue of the no-confidence, Qureshi talked about the India-Pakistan relations, holding the "RSS" and the "Hindutva" ideology responsible for the lack of dialogue.

"When have we rejected dialogue? My Prime Minister says, take one step towards peace, I will take two, but the Hindutva mindset that has come there... the RSS mentality that Delhi is occupied with... they don't want dialogue," Qureshi said. Further talking about the Kashmir issue, Qureshi said that India seeks to keep Kashmiris "bounded".

Earlier in his speech, Qureshi primarily had talked about the "foreign conspiracy" to topple the Imran Khan government, alleging that the US had categorically told Pakistan not to go forward with the Moscow visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan. He also conceded that today (Saturday) is probably his last day as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan).

Earlier today, the session of the National Assembly was adjourned as the Opposition continued to chant slogans, pressing for the taking up of the no-confidence motion, while Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was speaking in the National Assembly, local media reported. 

In an apparent move seen as part of the strategy of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to delay the proceedings, Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, while chairing the Saturday session to take up the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government, said that the House should also hold a discussion on the issue of "international conspiracy."

The Speaker`s suggestion was met with strong protest by the Opposition members who asked the Chair to stick to the mandate of the session spelt out by the Supreme Court. Pakistan's Supreme Court in a historic judgement on Thursday had called for the convening of the session of the National Assembly "not later than 10:30 am on Saturday" after setting aside the April 3 ruling of the Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri against the no-confidence motion on "Constitutional grounds".

Declaring the ruling of the Deputy Speaker "to be contrary to the Constitution and the law and of no legal effect", the Court set aside all the subsequent steps taken, including the dissolution of the National Assembly, while also restoring Prime Minister Imran Khan and all the Federal Ministers to their respective positions as of April 3. The court also fixed the Saturday session with the conditions that the session cannot be prorogued unless the motion is voted upon, and in case Imran Khan loses the no-trust vote, the next PM has to be elected in the same session.