Pakistan rakes up Rafale deal, says government dropped talks to divert attention from scandal

Pakistan army chief spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor also said 'war is imposed when you are not ready for it but we are a nuclear nation and ready'.

Image tweeted by @peaceforchange

New Delhi: In an exasperated response to India’s cancellation of the proposed meeting of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj with Pakistan’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the country has now raked up the Rafale deal controversy. Pakistan's Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhary said that India dropped the talks at the foreign minister level because PM Modi is ensnared in the ‘Rafale Scandal’. The Indian Prime Minister is trying to befool the public in order to divert people’s attention from the scandal, he said. Chaudhary said in a tweet: “We reject war mongering by ruling elite of India. Everyone know Indian Government strategy is to use hate mongering against Pakistan basically to bail PM Modi from call for resignation post French jets Rafale deal and divert attention of Indian public from this mega corruption scandal.” Pakistan army chief spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor also said that India was trying to divert attention from domestic problems by calling off the talks. As per reports carried in Pakistan’s media, Ghafoor also said that “We need to maintain peace in the region and it should not be misconstrued as our weakness. India should not retort to war mongering.” He also said Pakistan's desire for peace should not be mistaken for weakness. 'War is imposed when you are not ready for it. But we are a nuclear nation and ready', he said. Ghafoor’s statement came soon after India’s Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said that there is a need of stern action to avenge the barbarism that terrorists and the Pakistan Army have been carrying out. In his remark, Army Chief also said that it is time to give it back to Pakistan in the same coin, not resorting to a similar kind of barbarism. He also said that “but I think the other side must also feel the same pain” Earlier on Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Khan said in a tweet said "Disappointed at the arrogant and negative response by India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue. However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture," he said in a sharp reaction. India on Friday called off the talks between Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi  that were  proposed to take place at the sidelines of UNGA in New York. India cited “brutal" killing of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the release of the postal stamps "glorifying" Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani, for dropping off the talks.