Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Wednesday predicted that a full-blown war between India and Pakistan may likely occur in the month of “October or the next month.” While addressing media in Rawalpindi, Rashid claimed that ‘decisive time for Kashmir’s struggle’ has come. “This is going to be the last war between both countries,” he was quoted as saying by Pakistan Today. The remark by Pakistan Minister comes two days after Prime Minister Imran Khan threatened India of a nuclear war. Khan in a televised address said that his country will go to any extent for Kashmir and asserted that Islamabad wouldn’t be afraid of using its nuclear powers for Kashmir. Pakistan has been rattled by the Indian government’s move to strip the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and has found itself completely isolated despite desperate attempts aimed at internationalising the issue. Meanwhile, reiterating the similar rhetoric, the Railway Minister once again urged his countrymen to stand in solidarity with the Kashmiris in the Valley and promised to visit them after Muharram. “Jinnah had assessed the anti-Muslim mindset in India long ago. Those who still think about the possibility of dialogue with India are fools,” Rashid added. Prime Minister Modi, during his meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in the southwestern French city of Biarritz, had reiterated India’s continued standpoint over the issue that Kashmir is an internal matter of India, and New Delhi and Islamabad can resolve their issues bilaterally. Islamabad has been snubbed on all fronts as the international community has made it clear that the Kashmir issue is strictly New Delhi’s internal matter. The country, which is finding it hard to uphold its struggling economy is now looking forward to raise the issue during the United Nations General Assembly meet in New York next month. The Pakistan government has downgraded bilateral ties with India in the wake of the decision and said it will consider all steps to counter what it described “illegal steps” taken by New Delhi.
