Comparing each other to Iraq, South Asian rivals India and Pakistan have each said the other is a “fit case” for a pre-emptive strike, according to reports.

Pakistan is a “fit case” for a U.S. pre-emptive strike, as was the case with Iraq, because it also possesses weapons of mass destruction, provides a safe haven for terrorists and lacks democracy, Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said in an interview published yesterday.

Sinha said that he would not oppose a U.S. attack on Pakistan, but it was up to Washington to make such a decision. 

“We can’t go to someone and ask them to attack another country,” Sinha said.  “We will keep pointing out the activities of Pakistan and in them the role of the army, the drug business centered in Pakistan … and how people in [the Pakistan-controlled zone of Kashmir] are repressed and trampled on,” he added.

Adding to the tension between the two countries, Indian Defense Minister Georges Fernandes said yesterday that India was planning to test its Agni 3 long-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile before the end of the year (see related GSN story, today; The Advertiser, April 7).

Pakistani officials today responded in kind to Sinha’s comments.

“India is a fit case for a pre-emptive strike,” Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.  “If India thinks, and could do so, then we also have the right to go for a pre-emptive strike,” he said.

India also possesses weapons of mass destruction, Ahmed said.  He added that if India were to take action against Pakistan “it would be eliminated from the globe” (Islamic Republic News Agency, April 7).

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