Pakistan army tightens hold on Nawaz Sharif government
Rift between civilian government, military establishment in Pakistan has widened.
New Delhi: The Indian government’s assessment seems to be that the Pakistan Army has tightened its hold on the Nawaz Sharif Government following the publication of an article in the country’s reputed Dawn newspaper which had highlighted the rift between the civilian government and military there over the issue of support to terror groups.
This is bad news for India, sources said. Government sources said the fact that the Pakistan PMO seemed to have made some changes to its reaction in a matter of a few hours showed the pressure it was under.
According to some reports, the Pakistan PMO initially maintained that the reports comprised half-truths and fiction but later outrightly rejected the report.
Sources said this showed that the Pakistan Army was steadfast on its path of hostility towards India which indicates that there could be calibrated escalation of hostilities on the LoC in the form of shelling or else an attempt to stage a massive terror strike on Indian assets either near the LoC, or in the hinterland of the Valley, or else even on Indian missions in Afghanistan.
Sources said that Indian missions in Afghanistan could be seen as a soft target despite maximum levels of alert since Pakistan-backed groups have repeatedly tried to target Indian missions in Kabul.