Pak doesn't want tension with India: Zardari

Pak doesn't want tension with India: Zardari
23 Dec 2008, 2236 hrs IST, PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's top leadership on Tuesday said the country does not want tension with India though the armed forces are fully capable of
thwarting any aggression from the eastern border.

India should not underestimate Pakistan's military power because it is "capable of thwarting any aggression from the east", President Asif Ali Zardari was quoted as saying by Dawn News channel during a meeting here with Gen Tariq Majid, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

Majid told the President that the armed forces were fully capable of meeting any eventuality on the eastern front.

Separately, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said both Pakistan and India cannot afford tension along their border.

"Nobody wants tensions on the borders and we are moving responsibly and with caution," Gilani told reporters on the sidelines of an official ceremony here.

The military is fully capable of defending Pakistan's territorial integrity, he said, adding that the operational preparedness of the armed forces is at an "optimal level".

The nation and the army are united to defend the country and its territorial integrity, he added.

"The government is aware of the situation in the region and will act as things move," Gilani said.

The two top leaders also said Pakistan wants good relations with India based on mutual respect and equality.

During a meeting with Shahid Malik, Pakistan's High Commissioner to India, Zardari said Islamabad wants good relations with New Delhi but "on the basis of sovereign equality".