Lucknow, Sep 28 (IANS): Former Indian Army officer, Major General Dr J.K. Bansal (retd) on Saturday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for accusing India of "massive expansion of its military capabilities" and of seeking to cross the LoC, saying Pakistani leaders have fear in their minds as the country has become very weak from the inside.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, PM Sharif accused India of issuing threats to cross the Line of Control (LoC) to take over Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). He also demanded the Indian government should reverse the 2019 abrogation of Article 370 which gave Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) a special status and also charged India with trying to subjugate its Muslim population and obliterate its Islamic heritage.

Talking to IANS, Maj Gen Bansal (retd) said: "They (Pakistani leaders) keep saying such things without any reason. They raise the issue of Kashmir and say that India will attack us militarily. I think they have a fear in their minds because Pakistan has become very weak from the inside as their army is not capable of fighting anymore. There is a crisis in Pakistan as there is no petrol in their military vehicles. The economy is completely exhausted."

He further claimed that the Pakistan PM makes such statements so that he can give an issue to his people.

"Pakistan PM Sharif has no more issues to highlight as they are already in crisis... that's why he keeps raising the issue of Kashmir and whether India will attack or what not," he added.

He also asserted that Pakistan always tried to spread terrorism in J&K.

"Pakistan keeps spreading terrorism and attacked the Parliament in 2001. They also attacked Mumbai in 2008 and whatever allegations they have made on Friday are baseless," he stated.

The former Army officer asserted that Pakistan is worried that India will take over PoK.

"PM Sharif also wanted to reinstate Article 370 in the J&K. I think they are worried that India will take over the PoK. The people of PoK indeed want to come to India. But, whenever Pakistan's PMs go to the UN, they have been demanding India remove its troops... First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Bhavika Mangalanandan has strongly denied all the allegations of PM Sharif and called Pakistan a factory of terrorism," he asserted.

He also claimed that after the abrogation of Article 370, there is happiness in the J&K.

"Whatever he (Sharif) said about the PoK is humorous and baseless. Kashmir is an integral part of India. They should know that after the removal of Article 370, there is prosperity in the Union Territory. Business and tourism are thriving there. The people of J&K are very happy. The people of PoK want to become a part of India as the situation in Pakistan is very bad."