Pakistan raises bogey of all-out war with India to justify delaying polls

Cross-border terrorism, instability in the country, threats from the TTP, IS fighters returning to Pakistan from several countries, and even an all-out war with India -- these are the points mentioned in the Pakistan Defence Ministry report submitted to the Supreme Court feared all kinds of threats in the way of holding elections at present.

The report filed in the top court along with an application to withdraw its election-date order, feared a spike in terrorism threats if elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sssemblies were held before polls in others, Dawn reported.

It feared that Pakistan would continue to be a victim of the "global great game, where India enjoyed primacy".

Pakistan was not only threatened due to insecurity because of external aggression but also by internal instability, it said, adding that both were interlinked "since the internal chaos invites external aggression".

"Moreover, India would continue with strategic coercion, including through terrorism in Pakistan, and exploit any opportunity at operational and tactic levels for limited military action to all-out war," the report added.

A charged environment in Punjab province might lead to instability in the country, it said, highlighting that there were several threat alerts received against senior leaders of different political parties, Dawn reported.

In case terrorist alerts are materialised, it may cause chaos and further deepen the existing political polarisation, which could lead to instability and breakdown like what happened after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the report said, Dawn reported.

Moreover, the report said that along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, elements like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) persistently attempted infiltration, and several exchanges of fire with the interim Afghan government elements had taken place.

It highlighted 72 cross-border incidents since January in which many Pakistani soldiers were martyred and many of them injured.

Likewise, the cross-border movement and attacks against the security forces by militant organisations in Balochistan, utilising territory of neighbouring countries, were constant challenges along the Pakistan-Iran border, with eight cross-border incidents since January claiming the lives of nine soldiers, Dawn reported.