New Delhi: A week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had authorised the Indian army to respond to the deadly suicide attack on CRPF jawans in Pulwama, Kashmir, the Pakistani military warned on Friday that it would “surprise India” with its response to any “aggression” and “dominate the escalation ladder”.In a long statement whose operative part was in English, Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Major General Asif Ghafoor – his formal designation is director general, Inter-Services Public Relations – also said that India accused India of “staging” all major terror incidents – from the 2001 attack on the parliament complex in Delhi to 26/11 and Pulwama – to undermine Pakistan before “any important event”.In levelling this charge, Gen Ghafoor ignored the fact that Pakistan has itself filed charges against terrorists arrested within its borders for at least one of these attacks – the November 26, 2008 terror strike on Mumbai – which he now claims was “staged” by India.“We do not wish to go into war, but please rest assured that should you initiate any aggression ─ first, you will never be able to surprise us. Pakistan armed forces will never be surprised by you. But let me assure you, we shall surprise you,” he said in Islamabad.Ghafoor said that if India initiated a military conflict, “we shall also dominate the escalation ladder”.“We shall have a superior force ratio at decisive points. Never think that due to our commitments elsewhere we will have any capacity lack,” he added.Over 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway on February 14. Immediately after the attack, a video emerged on social media in which the bomber, a resident of Pulwama, identified himself as a member of the Jaish-e-Mohammed.The Pakistan army claimed that there were technical discrepancies regarding the video, which made it appear doubtful that Pakistan had any role in the attack. However, he did not mention Jaish-e-Mohammed’s claim of responsibility to a Kashmiri news agency which was conveyed within a few hours of the attack.“India began showering Pakistan with accusations immediately after the attack without sparing a moment to think, and without any evidence in hand,” said Ghafoor.He noted that Indian security forces should be questioned as the “Pulwama attack happened miles away from the LoC”. “The explosives that were employed were being used by the administration and security forces in occupied Kashmir, it didn’t go there from Pakistan…The car that was used was also local [to Kashmir]. It did not go there from Pakistan.”Claiming that India had never accepted partition, he cited 1971 and the role of the Mukti Bahini, the militia formed by East Pakistan rebels with the support of India which eventually led to the creation of Bangladesh. “The Mukti Bahini group is in front of you. The real terrorism was done then through the Mukti Bahini,” he said.He then gave a long introduction to the theory that India had “staged” the Pulwama attack. “Whenever there is supposed to be an important event in Pakistan, or the country is moving towards stability, then there is always some sort of staged incident in either India or occupied Kashmir,” said GhafoorHe said that December 2001 parliament attack took place just before Indian general election and presidential election and during the session of the United Nations General Assembly.The Mumbai 26/11 attack took place when “our progress in the war on terror was quite good and at this time too, there were to be general elections in India from February to December”.The Pathankot attack place when “the President of the United States’ State of the Union address was due”, as well as, Indian state elections and foreign secretary-level talks. “The Uri incident happened on Sept 18, 2016, when our prime minister was set to go to the UNGA to deliver a speech,” he added.“So this pattern shows that whenever in Pakistan there is some important event due, some staged action of this sort takes place,” said Ghafoor.On the Pulwama attack, he listed eight “significant” events which were to take place in February-March.The Saudi crown prince’s visit and investment conferenceDiscussion on United Nations Security Council terror listingAfghan peace talksEuropean Union discussion on KashmirHearing of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of JusticeDiscussion on the FATF reportMeeting between Pakistan, Indian officials on Kartarpur Corridor developmentsPSL matches to be played in PakistanEven as Pakistan has alleged the attack had been “staged”, it has also insisted the suicide bombing was the response of an indigenous Kashmir movement. It is not clear how the Pakistani major general was stating that Pulwama attack was “staged” by India, while Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan advised New Delhi to introspect on its Kashmir policy since the attack was carried out by a Kashmiri suicide bomber.Ghafoor hoped that India will accept Pakistan’s offer for dialogue.There was no immediate response from the Indian side to the Pakistani military’s statements. However, the ministry of external affairs usually does not react to statement from the Pakistan army.Indian sources said that the spokesperson was likely addressing a domestic constituency and especially the media.“The whole of Indian media is occupied in war journalism while the Pakistani media is trying its best in doing peace journalism. I applaud Pakistani media for it,” said Ghafoor.
