New Delhi, Jan 16: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan on Monday said that the US has been trying to convince them that India was not a threat and hence Islamabad should change its strategic stance towards New Delhi. Khan also asserted that it is time for a courteous yet ‘ruthlessly candid dialogue’ with the US ‘with everything on the table’ to remove all misunderstandings between Islamabad and Washington. Also Read - International Flights: Now Indians Can Fly to Japan, UK, Canada And 10 Other Countries | Who is Allowed & Who is Not? Read Detailed SOPs

Khurram Dastagir Khan while reading out a policy statement on the government’s foreign policy contours and the security situation in Pakistan in the National Assembly on Monday said that he regretted that the US downplayed India’s aggressive posturing along the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary, the Dawn reported. Also Read - India's COVID-19 Tally Nears 55 Lakh-mark, Deaths Stand at 87,882 | Key Points

“The perception of India was one of the foundational divergences between Pakistan and the US. It’s time for a courteous yet ruthlessly candid dialogue between Pakistan and the US with everything on the table,” the defence minister stated. Also Read - Ladakh Standoff: India, China Hold Sixth Round of Corps Commander-Level Talks at Moldo

Khan claimed that Washington had been trying to convince Pakistan that India was not a threat and, therefore, Islamabad should change its strategic stance. “But the truism remains true. Both India’s capacity and intents are today hostile towards Pakistan,” Pak’s Defence Minister alleged.

He also criticised the US for not pursuing internal reconciliation in Afghanistan, which had now become a safe haven for terrorists. Backing his country, Khurram Dastagir Khan said that Pakistan was being made a scapegoat as the US was not winning (the war on terror) in Afghanistan.

“Pakistan had cleared the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Karachi and Balochistan under the Operation ‘Zarb-i-Azb’ and there were no safe havens for terrorists in the country,” the defence minister added.

Terming 2017 as the “deadliest year in terms of LoC violations by India and the killings of civilians”, he said that India today is a “highly militarised and an increasingly belligerent neighbour”.

“The unrelentingly hostile and anti-Pakistan stance taken by the current Indian government has reduced drastically space for any advocacy of peace,” the Minister added. Dastgir Khan also said the Indian government had “accelerated Pakistan bashing”.

“The case of Kulbhushan Jhadav is a proof of his attempts to create unrest in other countries,” nation.com.pk quoted the Minister as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)