On Wednesday, Pakistan's Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed predicted a full-blown war with India may occur around November amid reports of troop deployments near the Indian border.
The minister affirmed the time for a "final freedom struggle has come" and the war with India will be the “last this time”.
India and Pakistan have engaged in two wars besides getting their forces getting involved in the Kargil Conflict and a recent dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC).
The Pakistani minister claimed the war is "likely to occur in October or the following month".
"Jinnah had assessed the anti-Muslim mindset in India long ago. Those who still think about the possibility of dialogue with India are fools", the daily Pakistan Today quoted the minister as saying.
“Imran Khan’s upcoming speech at the United Nations on Sept 27 holds vital significance. We are lucky to have a friend like China standing with us”, he emphasised.
Meanwhile, Pakistan military spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor announced as per the government's plan, at 12:00 local time that sirens will be rung across the country in solidarity with the Kashmiris on 30 August (Friday).
On Tuesday, Pakistan moved hundreds of its troops and elite commandos close to the Line of Control (LoC), a 450-mile long military line that serves as a de-facto border separating the disputed region of Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Sources said the deployment indicates India’s western rival is preparing for a "short term conflict".
Tensions between the two countries increased earlier in August when the Indian government announced a decision to strip the state of Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and split it into two union territories, prompting an outraged reaction from Islamabad with whom India has had strained relations over the Kashmir region for decades.
India and Pakistan have contested the Kashmir region — the southern part of which lies in India's Jammu and Kashmir — since the end of British rule in 1947.
Despite a ceasefire reached in 2003 after several armed conflicts, the two South Asian countries have repeatedly engaged in sporadic fighting over the de facto border.
