Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan has said the country will retaliate if India attacks Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Speaking at a rally in Islamabad, Mr Khan warned New Delhi to expect a "befitting response", promising "every brick will be countered with a stone" and vowing to continue fighting for Kashmir until it is "liberated".

Addressing thousands of protesters gathered outside his office in the capital Islamabad, he ratcheted up the rhetoric, calling his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi a "fascist" and equating him with Adolf Hitler.

Image: Protesters in Peshawar burned an effigy of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi

The former cricketer said India could target Pakistani-held Kashmir in a bid to divert attention from human rights abuses in the part of the disputed Himalayan region that it controls.

He feared a "genocide of Muslims in Kashmir" and warned the international community that any conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours will not be confined to the South Asian region.


"The whole world will be affected" because of it, he said, promising to raise the issue and that of alleged human rights abuses by India in Kashmir when he addresses the UN general assembly next month.

"The whole world should have stood with Kashmir. But today I have to say, with sadness, that when there is injustice against Muslims, then the international community, and those institutions like the UN that are to provide justice, remain silent."

The current dispute began earlier this month when India revoked the special constitutional status enjoyed by the Indian-administered part of the disputed territory since independence in 1947.

Phone and internet services were shut down and thousands of troops sent in to quell potential unrest.

Communications have since been restored, but the area remains in lockdown, with soldiers patrolling and roads blocked.

Image: Protesters gathered to listen to Mr Khan in Islamabad

Rallies protesting against the Indian occupation of the majority Muslim region were held in almost all cities, towns and villages in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

Protesters in the eastern city of Lahore and elsewhere burned Indian flags and effigies of Mr Modi.

Mr Khan's incendiary language came a day after the country's military announced it had successfully tested a surface-to-surface missile with the capacity of carrying various types of warheads over distances up to 180 miles (290km).

Image: Pakistani policemen joined the Lahore protest against the Indian lockdown in Kashmir

Tensions have been high between the two nations since 40 paramilitary soldiers were killed by a suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir in February.

India responded by bombing an alleged militant training camp in Pakistan and Pakistan claimed it shot down two Indian air force planes and captured an Indian pilot who was later released.

Image: A member of the Indian army during a lockdown in Srinagar, Kashmir

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full, but administer separate portions of it and have fought two of their three wars over the region.

Most Kashmiris support the rebels' demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.