'If India stops, so will we': Defence Minister Khawaja Asif says Pakistan ready to refrain from military offensive

Hours after the Indian airstrikes on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in Operation Sindoor, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said his military will back off from retaliation against India provided New Delhi halts further strikes.

Saying the attacks were initiated by India, Asif said, "If India is ready to back down, they have taken the initiative, we have just responded. We have been saying all along, for the last fortnight, that we will never initiate anything hostile against India.

However, the defence minister said if Pakistan is attacked, they will respond. "We will definitely wrap up these things, if India backs down," he told Bloomberg.

Addressing a press meet, Khawaja said that Pakistan does not seek war. Though the forces are prepared for attacks, he said they are equally prepared to exercise restraint.

The defence minister's move is seen as a diplomatic effort to avoid further escalation as Pakistan is already cash-strapped and cannot afford to go on an all-out war with India.

On the intervening night of May 6 and 7, India struck Pakistan's terrorist camps that served as training and recruitment camps, indoctrination centres and weapon storage.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said it was necessary to take pre-emptive and precautionary strikes as intelligence inputs showed that further attacks against India were impending.

In a rare tri-service operations jointly executed by the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, nine locations in Pakistan and PoK were targeted. These sites were used by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists for recruitment, training and infiltration into India.

Following Operation Sindoor, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh posted on X, "Bharat Mata ki Jai".

Defence