Pak terms Indian army's new doctrine 'absurd'

"I will call it absurd ... and very irresponsible," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters here. "I was very surprised when I read this in the media."      Qureshi's comments came in the wake of the Indian Army officials' remarks that the doctrine, which is reviewed every five years at the Army's Shimla-based Training Command, will now include scenarios such as a two-front simultaneous war with both China and Pakistan.

Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had also said last week that his force was capable of defeating any aggressive design or "cold start doctrine."

Without elaborating, Qureshi today said that Pakistan was not under any pressure and "will not accept pressure."

"We want peace in the region and we want to normalise the situation. We want the resumption of the composite dialogue."      Pakistan wants good relations with all its neighbours, he said. Qureshi claimed that the strained relations between India and Pakistan are also having an impact on the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).      "When relations between India and Pakistan improve, it will have a good impact on SAARC. When dialogue between the two countries is suspended, it affects SAARC.

"We have to see who is holding things up? Pakistan wants to strengthen SAARC and make it a meaningful forum," Qureshi said.

He described the recent release of fishermen by both sides as a positive development and said Pakistan had also sought the revival of the Judicial Committee on Prisoners.