Pakistan was ready to use nuclear weapon against India, says
Musharraf
Islamabad, Dec 30, IRNA - Pakistan's President Musharraf Monday said he was prepared to use nuclear weapons in the event of an Indian attack during a tense border stand-off earlier this year.
Speaking at Air Defence function in Karachi General Musharraf said he had told world leaders mediating in the crisis to make it clear to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that Pakistan would go beyond conventional warfare to defend its territory.
"I believe my message was effectively conveyed," he told military veterans in Karachi.
The nuclear-armed neighbours massed a million troops along their border after an attack on India's parliament, which Delhi blamed on Pakistan-backed militants.
Pakistan denied any role in the attack, which it condemned. Both countries possess ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads deep into each other's territory.
They sparked alarm around the world when they conducted tit-for-tat underground nuclear tests in 1998.
General Musharraf did not mention nuclear weapons by name in his address to the veterans. But he said: "In my meetings with various world leaders, I conveyed my personal message to Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee that the moment Indian forces cross the Line of Control [in Kashmir] and the international border, then they should not expect a conventional war from Pakistan.
"We have defeated our enemy without going into war."
General Musharraf noted that both sides had withdrawn their troop reinforcements since the crisis peaked.
Tensions have lowered since the summer, thanks largely to intense international diplomatic pressure.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two over Kashmir, since their independence from the British colonial rule in 1947.
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