Headlines
Pakistan will not allow India's regional hegemony: Aziz
Islamabad, May 31
Pakistan's acquisition of
nuclear power "smashed India's dreams" for regional hegemony, a top
advisor to Islamabad said on Sunday.
Sartaj Aziz, foreign affairs
and security advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, told the Nazaria
Pakistan Council in Lahore that Pakistan would never allow India's
desire for regional hegemony and its acquisition of nuclear power in
1998 "smashed India's dreams", reports Dawn.
India and Pakistan
conducted nuclear tests in May 1998 -- within a fortnight of each other
-- to successfully develop and publicly test nuclear weapons, despite
international outcry.
Aziz told the Nazaria Pakistan Council --
an academy-cum-research centre for promoting the Pakistan ideology --
that economic prosperity and self-reliance were imperative for a strong
defence. However, Pakistan was compelled to fight a war against evil
ideologies, including extremism and terrorism, which are harming the
country, he observed.
Aziz's assertion came close on the heels of
a statement by the Pakistani army that Indian spy agency Research and
Analysis Wing (RAW) was involved in instigating terrorism in Pakistan.
RAW
has often been blamed by law-enforcement agencies here for its alleged
involvement in subversive activities in Pakistan -- but it was unusual
for a corps commanders' conference early this month to directly point a
finger at the Indian intelligence outfit.
Successive governments
in Pakistan have alleged an Indian hand in terrorism, more particularly
in Balochistan and tribal areas, but have failed to disclose specific
information in this regard.