Islamabad, Aug. 14 :    Islamabad, Aug. 14:  Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said his country wants peace with India in spite of the shooting down of its naval plane last week, but warned that ?everything has a limit?. In a speech on the 52nd anniversary of Pakistan?s independence, Sharif said his country?s restraint in the face of provocative action should not be interpreted as weakness. On the day, Pakistan honoured 64 soldiers who died in the Kargil conflict with gallantry awards. Capt. Karnal Sher, whose body was handed over by India, was awarded the Nishan-e-Haider, the country?s top military decoration, posthumously. Mixing appeals for peace with tough talk about his nation? military prowess, Sharif said Pakistan had behaved responsibly towards India since demonstrating its nuclear power in May last year. ?We have acted with responsibility and patience after becoming a nuclear power and are still behaving in the same manner. But there is a limit to everything,? he said. Peace in Asia would not be possible, Sharif said, unless India and Pakistan settle their dispute over Kashmir. Maintaining that the shooting down of the Atlantique was without ?any reason or provocation,? Sharif said this ?showed the world who wants peace and who wants to destroy it?. Explaining why he was ?restrained?, the Pakistan Prime Minister referred to the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons and said: ?...I do not want to impose war on the region as it would be disastrous and nobody will survive to celebrate its victory.? If Sharif referred to nuclear weapons time and again during his speech today, his foreign minister Sartaj Aziz told the Senate yesterday that Pakistan?s nuclear deterrence ?kept India at bay and stopped it from violating the international boundary between the two countries?. Aziz said the international community got involved in the Kargil issue because of Pakistan?s nuclear capability. Referring to the July 4 accord between US President Bill Clinton and Sharif, Aziz claimed that India had also consented to the agreement after ?backing out of a possible deal on the Kashmir issue through so-called back channel diplomacy?. ?Though India is not a signatory to the Washington accord, its contents were finalised after consultations with Indian leaders... President Clinton talked to Prime Minister Vajpayee by telephone about the contents of the joint statement,? Aziz said about the accord which led to Pakistan agreeing to pull back the intruders from Kargil. Justifying Sharif?s decision to rush to the US to sign the accord with Clinton at the height of the Kargil crisis, Aziz said: ?The move came after a near-deal between India and Pakistan through back channel diplomacy fell through.?