Pakistan Defence Minister Softens Stance After Vowing Forceful Response To India Strikes, Asif Leaves Door Open For Dialogue

New Delhi: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif appeared to soften his stance on Wednesday, signalling a willingness to de-escalate tensions with India just hours after warning of a forceful retaliation to New Delhi’s precision strikes on terror camps across the border.

Asif said Pakistan would “wrap up” hostilities if India backed off, leaving open the door for dialogue after tensions spiked between the two neighbours following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 civilians.

“This has been initiated by India. If India is ready to back down, they have taken the initiative, we have just responded,” Asif said. “We have been saying all along, for the last fortnight, that we will never initiate anything hostile against India. The remarks marked a climbdown from Asif’s tough comments earlier in the day, where he issued a blunt warning that Pakistan was fully prepared to retaliate with force. “If India attempts to occupy even an inch of our land, it will prove to be a costly misadventure,” he told Pakistani outlet Geo News.

Asif also stated that Pakistan’s response would be both “kinetic and diplomatic”, adding that “it would not take long” for Islamabad to act. In a 25-minute blitz codenamed Operation Sindoor, India struck nine terror camps deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the early hours of Wednesday. Over 80 terrorists were killed in the missile strikes targeting infrastructure linked to terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Hizbul Mujahideen.

The Indian government made it clear that no Pakistani military facilities were targeted and that the operation was a calibrated response to the April 22 terror attack. However, Pakistan’s Foreign Office condemned the strikes as an “unprovoked and blatant act of war,” while its army said it would respond to the provocation “at a time and place of its own choosing”.