Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif on Friday warned India against conducting any surgical strike on the country's nuclear installations, saying that if New Delhi launches such operations then nobody should expect restraint from Islamabad.
Asif made the statement a day after India's Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had the capability to "locate, fix and strike across the border." Dhanoa was responding to a question about handling the tactical nuclear weapons of Pakistan, at the annual press conference in New Delhi.
"Yesterday, the Indian Air Chief said we will hit, through another surgical strike, Pakistan's nuclear installations. If that happens, nobody should expect restraint from us. That's the most diplomatic language I can use," the Dawn quoted Asif as saying at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington.
Asif reportedly urged Indian leaders to not consider any such actions as they could pose dire consequences for New Delhi, the report stated. Asif also said that Pakistan's "relationship with India is at the lowest ebb at the moment".
Responding to a question on India, he said, "sadly India did not respond" to Pakistani efforts to improve the relationship.
The Pakistan Foreign Minister is on a three-day official visit to the US in attempt to rebuild bilateral frayed ties. Last month, US President Donald Trump had accused Pakistan of sheltering terror groups on its soil.
Asif, in a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday, defended Pakistan's role in the war against terrorism, by claiming that Islamabad has pursued a zero-tolerance and indiscriminate approach in its campaign against all terrorist and militant groups.
"The meeting went well with Tillerson and McMaster (meeting) was good. (It) was not bad," Asif said, noting that US and Pakistan need to pursue contacts with each other.
