Ruling out a direct military threat from India as long as the peace process goes on, Pakistan has said that those involved in militancy in Jammu and Kashmir were "freedom fighters".
However, it also noted that some of the militants active in Kashmir took part in suicide attacks against President Pervez Musharraf to achieve their "political motives."
People who attacked Musharraf's motorcade in Rawalpindi in 2003 had used "the platform of the freedom struggle in Kashmir for their political motives," Pakistan Defence Spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan said.
"People fighting in Kashmir are neither 'jihadis' nor terrorists; they are freedom fighters, largely indigenous" and Pakistan supported the "freedom struggle" by diplomatic means, he was quoted as saying by Dawn at a seminar on 'Political Violence and Terrorism in South Asia' here on Wednesday.
One of the suicide bombers who was killed in the suicide attack on Musharraf was identified as the one hailing from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) with allegiance to a militant outfit.
Sultan said there was no direct military threat to Pakistan from India as long as the peace process was going on but at the same time warned that internal threats and threats from the non-state adversaries at the domestic and international levels could destabilise the country.
{{/usCountry}}Sultan said there was no direct military threat to Pakistan from India as long as the peace process was going on but at the same time warned that internal threats and threats from the non-state adversaries at the domestic and international levels could destabilise the country.
{{/usCountry}}To a suggestion that India and Pakistan should stop demonising each other, he said Pakistan too wished so and was making efforts in this regard but accused Indian media of carrying anti-Pakistan reports to tarnish its image.