Diplomat Claims US, UK Intervened to Stop India Attacking Pakistan

By Cernig

Just for fits and giggles, this is how close India and Pakistan are to nuclear war.

The Pakistani High Commissioner in London, Wajid Shamsul Hassan, said he had learned from sources that India was about to launch a military strike to "teach Pakistan a lesson".

Speaking to Sky News, he said: "On the day of the Mumbai attacks, I got some information in London that India was going to act very drastically against Pakistan in retaliation to what happened."

The senior diplomat said had alerted the Pakistani government and President Asif Ali Zardari to the threat.

In turn, Mr Zardari urgently contacted high level British and American officials who intervened to calm the situation.

Accusations over Mumbai may have made matters worse, but this is the ground-state of relations on the sub-continent - one crisis away from war between mutally antagonistic neighbours. Suddenly, the US appears to have noticed that fact, and the fact of previous provocation, after years of denying any such thing. Maybe the best idea would be to stop selling both nations weapons and doing deals which allow either to build up their nuclear arsenals.