Mumbai, March 22 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said that former Pakistani diplomat Abdul Basit’s recent remarks against India show that the country “cannot survive without terrorism”.

Basit, a former High Commissioner of Pakistan to India, during an interview with a local Pakistani channel, had said that attacking Indian cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai should be Islamabad’s “default move” if the country comes under attack from the US.

“If America attacks Pakistan, even if America does not fall within our nuclear range, what do you think is our option? India, we don’t have to do anything. Even if we don’t have our range there, if somebody casts an evil eye on us, we will attack Mumbai and New Delhi in India. We will see whatever happens later on. The world should know this that if we come under attack, we will, in turn, attack India wherever we want,” Basit had said.

Reacting sharply to the former Pakistani diplomat’s statement, BJP National Spokesperson Tuhin Sinha told IANS: “Abdul Basit’s threat that Delhi and Mumbai will be blown up with bombs from Pakistan shows that even today, Pakistan is rattled by strikes during Operation Sindoor. It has lost its mental balance.”

Terming Pakistan a “terrorist state”, Sinha said: “It is a terrorist state and now we don’t even have to say it. Last year, (Pakistan Army Chief) Asim Munir had told the US that if needed, the oil refineries in Jamnagar would be blown up. Now, the country’s former envoy has used this kind of language. It shows that terrorism is ingrained in their nature. Pakistan can’t survive without terrorism.”

Bringing to the fore Islamabad’s reported airstrikes on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, the BJP leader said: “During the holy month of Ramzan, Pakistan bombed Afghanistan and killed 400 people there. India had condemned that too. Now they are threatening India.”

He added: “Pakistan needs to understand that its business of terrorism has now ended after Operation Sindoor. By keeping the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, India has hurt Pakistan so much that it will think 10 times before promoting terrorism.”

Sinha also accused the UPA government of remaining silent on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism during its tenure.

He said: “This is the difference between us and the UPA regime. The UPA used to watch everything silently, while we have given them a sharp response, because of which they are shocked, terrified, and have lost their mental balance. Now they are talking nonsense.”

–IANS

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