Dhanalakshmi, the mother of National Security Guard commando Sandeep Unnikrishnan who died in the Mumbai attack, at a ceremony in New Delhi to honour the servicemen who were killed. Several relatives broke down as they came face to face with photographs of the commandos. (Reuters)

Dec. 15: Pakistan today gently reminded India — and the rest of the world — that it was a nuclear power and added in the same breath that war was not the solution, the comments coming on a day Pentagon officials were quoted as saying they believed Delhi had begun preparations for air strikes soon after the Mumbai attacks.

“We are a nuclear power... we want to act in a graceful manner and we do not want to create an impression that we are an irresponsible nation. War is not a solution for the problems,” Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told Pakistan’s parliament.

Drawing a parallel that is likely to touch a raw nerve in India, Gilani said both “are poor countries… facing numerous problems.... The two nations must focus their attention to resolve these problems instead of promoting war-mongering”.

“We are a peace-loving nation and do not want war but if it is imposed on us, we will fight it,” he added amid fresh efforts by America to rein in India. ( )

Gilani’s address came a few hours after CNN reported that three Pentagon officials had individually confirmed to the television channel that America had information indicating the Indian Air Force began to prepare for a possible mission.

The US concluded the preparations would have put India quickly in a position to launch air strikes on suspected terrorist camps and targets inside Pakistan.

However, India exercised caution after appeals from senior US officials, the channel said. But the state department said tonight: “We don’t give warnings.” The Indian Air Force offered no comment, according to CNN.

The tensions between India and Pakistan were apparent last night at a Paris conference on Afghanistan. Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Indian junior foreign minister Anand Sharma sat side by side at a news conference following the informal, closed-door talks, but they traded barely concealed barbs.