"There are enough reasons to launch such strikes against
Pakistan, but I cannot make public statements on whatever action that
may be taken," Fernandes told a meeting of ex-soldiers in this
northern Indian desert city on Friday.
The renewed warning came just hours after US Secretary of State Colin
Powell said Washington would strive to cool tensions between nuclear
enemies Pakistan and India, who have fought three wars since 1947.
Fernandes said he endorsed Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha's recent
comments that India had "a much better case to go for pre-emptive
action against Pakistan than the United States has in Iraq."
Sinha also argued that Pakistan was "a fit case" for US
military action, because it had weapons of mass destruction and
terrorists.
Fernandes also rejected Pakistani allegations that India had breached
United Nations Security Council resolutions from 1948 to 1957 which call
for a plebiscite among Kashmiris to choose rule by India or Pakistan.
"Pakistan has a habit of lying and the issue of cross-border
terrorism is a serious issue," Fernandes said.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training Muslim militants in
Kashmir. Islamabad denies the charge but says it offers moral and
political support to what it describes as Kashmiris' legitimate struggle
for self-expression.
Around 38,000 people have died in Kashmir, India's only
Muslim-majority state, since the launch of the armed insurgency by
Islamic guerrillas in 1989 in the Himalayan territory.
Pakistan and India both claim the scenic region, which is divided
between them by a ceasefire line known as the Line of Control, with
Pakistan controlling the northern part and India the south.
