Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday that his country was peace loving but wasn’t oblivious to defending its sovereignty and protecting independence as tensions with India mounted over a death sentence to former Indian navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Sharif’s comments came on a day foreign minister Sushma Swaraj warned Pakistan that bilateral ties would be hurt if Jadhav – who was found guilty by a Pakistani army court of spying, espionage and waging war against the state – was hanged.
“We want a peaceful neighbourhood…shared prosperity rather than mutual suspicion…at the same time, despite our earnest desire for peaceful co-existence, we cannot remain oblivious to defending our sovereignty and protecting our independence,” Sharif told cadets at an air force academy, according to Geo TV.