We can have a war within two to four days: defence minister

Amid tension between Pakistan and India following last week’s attack in Pahalgam in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday cautioned about the possibility of both countries engaging in war in the next two to four days.

“There is a war looming on the horizon. A very vivid possibility is there that we can have a war in the next two to four days,” Asif said while appearing on a private news outlet.

However, he clarified that, not being a military strategist, he was making such a guess as a political worker.

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When questioned, “What type of engagement war does India want with Pakistan?” the Defence Minister said, “I don’t believe that it [India] will go for an all-out [war],” adding that if an incursion happens, it will be limited to the Line of Control (LOC).

“Our whole border is covered, including water [Navy], air [Air Force], and ground. We are ready,” he added.

On being asked whether international efforts to defuse the tension between both countries had increased, Asif claimed that numerous countries, including Saudi Arabia, China, and Iran, had approached both Pakistan and India.

On the Indus Water Treaty being put in abeyance by India, he said that the latter country had often asked to renegotiate the treaty in the past when he was the minister for Water and Power, adding, “There is no need for renegotiation until all parties — Pakistan, India, and the World Bank — agree.”

The minister’s remarks come hours after he, in an interview with Reuters in Islamabad, said that a military incursion by India was imminent in the aftermath of a deadly militant attack on tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) last week, as tensions rise between the two nuclear-armed nations.

“We have reinforced our forces because it is imminent now. So, in that situation, some strategic decisions have to be taken, so those decisions have been taken,” the defence minister said.

Asif said India's rhetoric was ramping up and that Pakistan's military had briefed the government on the possibility of an Indian attack. However, the defence minister did not go into further details on his reasons for thinking an incursion was imminent.