Pakistan vows Kolkata strike if India stages 'false flag': Khawaja Asif
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Lahore: On Saturday, April 4, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif cautioned India that any “future misadventures” would provoke a retaliatory strike on Kolkata.
Speaking to reporters in his hometown of Sialkot—about 130 km from Lahore—Asif declared, “If India tries to stage any false flag operation this time, then God-willingly, we will take it to Kolkata.”
He alleged reports of India planning a false-flag operation, either through its own agents or detained Pakistanis, by planting bodies and labeling them as terrorists responsible for unspecified acts. Asif offered no evidence to back these claims.
Earlier on Thursday, Asif had emphasized that Pakistan’s response to any attack would remain “swift, calibrated, and decisive.”
His remarks countered Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who had warned that any “misadventure” by Pakistan amid current tensions would trigger an “unprecedented and decisive” Indian action.
The exchange follows the Pahalgam attack on April 22 last year, which sparked a four-day conflict between the two nations.