Pakistani PM to India: 'Can we afford miscalculation?'

In the aftermath of India and Pakistan's skirmishes on the ground and in the air on Tuesday and Wednesday over the long-contested Kashmir region, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a television address that he aims to sit down with the Indian government and find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, The Guardian reports.

He appealed to the fact that both country's nuclear arsenals could lead to a catastrophic conclusion, otherwise. "Can we afford miscalculation?," he asked. Pakistani jets launched airstrikes into the Indian-administered part of the contested mountain region, Pakistan's military said Wednesday. India denied the report and said it shot down a Pakistani F-16. The strikes were the first between the neighbors since 1971.

A spokesperson for the Pakistani military, Major General Asif Ghafoor, echoed Khan's sentiment, stating that Pakistan does "not wish to escalate hostilities" and "urged India to engage in dialogue," per Al Jazeera,

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Ghafoor also said that Pakistan's strike on six targets in India-administered Kashmir was "not a retaliation in the true sense" but a demonstration of Pakistan's wartime abilities should a larger conflict come to pass.

"We don't want a war," he said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has yet to respond to Khan, but Modi's initial reaction to the fighting was to vow a "jaw-breaking" retaliation.