Pakistan forces prepared to respond to any threat: PM

Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday said that their armed forces are fully capable and prepared to respond to any spectrum of threat.

Sharif's comment came a day after Pakistan gave death sentence to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav on charges of espionage and waging war against Islamabad.

There are differing accounts of how and where Jadhav was detained. Pakistan says he was detained on 3 March 2016 in the restive Balochistan province, which has been hit by a separatist insurgency that Islamabad accuses India of backing. India says he was kidnapped by Pakistan while he was in Iran.

"Pakistan is a peace-loving country but this should not be seen as a sign of weakness," Sharif said while addressing cadets at the Asghar Khan Pakistan Air Force Academy.

Earlier in the day, India warned Pakistan that execution of the death sentence handed down to Kulbhushan Jadhav by a military court would be taken as "pre-meditated murder" and Islamabad should consider its consequences on bilateral relations.

"There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Jadhav. If anything, he is the victim of a plan that seeks to cast aspersions on India to deflect international attention from Pakistan's well-known record of sponsoring and supporting terrorism," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in the Parliament.

In Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government will do everything possible to get justice for Jadhav.

While condemning the action, Singh said that Pakistan had ignored all norms of law and justice.

"The government strongly condemns it. All norms of law and justice were ignored. I want to assure the House that the government will do everything possible to get justice for Jadhav. He will get justice," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy yesterday said India must recognize Balochistan as an independent country if Pakistan executes Jadhav.