Defence Minister George Fernandes has said that Pakistan is not a threat to India as it is "too small a country to be afraid of".

In an interview to Karan Thapar for BBC's Hard Talk - India programme to be telecast on Friday, the defence minister said in military terms Islamabad "can't be, can never be a threat to India."

He asserted that the situation on the border was not normal as Pakistani troops indulged in constant firing on Indian posts. There has been no meaningful change in cross-border terrorism in the last six months either. "You can't say that today it is at certain level because tomorrow it could be at another level. There are ups and down but nothing that is meaningful," Fernandes said.