Punjab CM Amarinder Singh warns that Pakistan won't hesitate to use nuclear weapon in face of defeat against India

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AMRITSAR: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday warned that Pakistan would not hesitate to use nuclear weapon in face of a defeat against India.

Amardiner Singh, who is also a former Army Captain, preferred not to comment on the casualty figure in the airstrikes carried out by Indian Air Force fighter jets on a terror camp in Pakistan's Balakot, but said: "Whether it was one killed or 100, the message had gone out loud and clear. India will not let the killing of its innocent soldiers and citizens go unpunished."

The Punjab Chief Minister stressed that neither India nor Pakistan could afford a full-scale war. "Pakistan will not hesitate to use its nuclear arsenal if it felt it is losing out against India in a conventional war," Singh was quoted as saying by PTI.

He remarked that both India and Pakistan were nuclear powers and no country would want to use the weapons of destruction but Islamabad could "indulge in such a misadventure if faced with defeat in other battles".

Referring to February 26's pre-dawn IAF's airstrikes, the Punjab Chief Minister noted that the operation sends a clear message that India knows how to deal with the problem in the aftermath of the deadly terror attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama on February 14.

Talking about Pakistan's economic condition, Amarinder Singh said that Islamabad's economy was in a huge economic mess and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had been "going around with a begging bowl and surviving on doles from other Islamic nations". He added that it is highly unlikely that Pakistan would indulge in a full-fledged war with India.

Amarinder, however, cautioned that Pakistan could act desperately and use its nuclear weapons if they found themselves cornered in a conventional battle against India.