ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has voiced its serious distress over India’s test-fire of supersonic interceptor missile.
“We are not oblivious to our defence needs and we will be compelled to upgrade our defensive capabilities through suitable technologies,” Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in a weekly press brieifng here.
India test-fired its anti-ballistic missile Ashwin, which is capable of interrupting and bringing down hostile ballistic missiles, he said. “We reserve the right to maintain effective evasion and Pakistan is prepared to defend its people and borders.”
He mentioned that Indian actions were against the spirit of a peaceful and friendly neighbourhood and “would upset the balance of power in the region”. The spokesperson said following India’s missile test-fire, Islamabad had expressed its concern at the conference on disarmament plenary meeting held in Geneva about the New Delhi’s ambitious missile programme.
To a question about India’s gestures of maintaining relations with Pakistan on one hand and working against its interests on the other, Zakaria said, “Normalisation of relations between Pakistan and India would require sincere efforts, good faith and commitment from both the countries.”
“We have already conveyed that the dialogue process will not be a concession from one side to the other, but with a ‘Modus Vivendi’ [arrangement to coexist peacefully] in the inter-state relations.”
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