Pakistan will not hesitate to go nuclear in war with India: Punjab CM

Amritsar, March 4 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday warned that Pakistan would not hesitate to use its nuclear arsenal if it felt it was losing out against India in a conventional war.

Pointing out that both India and Pakistan were nuclear powers, he said it was not in either country's interest to use the weapons of mass destruction but Islamabad could indulge in such a misadventure, if faced with defeat in other battles.

In an informal chat with reporters here, Amarinder Singh said that the Indian Air Force air strikes had proven India's resolve to deal with the problem in the wake of the Pulwama attack on a CRPF convoy, but refused to comment on the number of terrorists killed in the strikes.

"Whether it was one killed or 100, the message has gone out loud and clear that India will not let the killing of its soldiers and citizens go unpunished," he said.

Pointed out that Pakistan was in a huge economic mess and had been going around with a begging bowl and surviving on doles from other Islamic nations, Amarinder Singh said they could ill-afford a full-fledged war with India.

And though both were nuke powered countries, Pakistan could act out of desperation to use its nuclear weapons if they found themselves cornered, he warned.

On the Aam Aadmi Party's decision to ally with the Shiromani Akali Dal-Taksali for the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab, the Chief Minister said it was their prerogative, but as far as the Congress was concerned, it did not need any alliance.

Dismissing the AAP-SAD-Taksali coalition as of no consequence, he said the Congress in the state was fully ready for the polls and was well placed to win on its own.