Reacting sharply to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's reported remark in Muzaffarabad that Kashmir is a flashpoint that could trigger a fourth war between India and Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh firmly asserted that Pakistan has no scope of winning such a war.
"There is no scope of Pakistan winning any such war, at least in my lifetime," Dr. Singh said at an 'At Home function' organized at the Navy Chief's residence of the occasion of Navy Day.
Pakistan daily Dawn had earlier quoted Nawaz Sharif as saying: "Kashmir is a flashpoint and can trigger a fourth war between the two nuclear powers at anytime."
Sharif is reported to have made this remark during a brief address to the budget session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Council.
According to some media reports in India, Sharif's office has reportedly said he had never 'uttered these words'. The Pakistan Prime Minister's office described the report in the Dawn as "baseless, incorrect and based on malafide intentions".