India on Monday condemned Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir’s threat of nuclear war. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry noted that Nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan’s stock-in-trade, and expressed regret that such remarks were made from the soil of a friendly third country. Addressing a gathering of people of Pakistani origin in Florida’s Tampa, Field Marshal Munir reportedly made a nuclear threat in case his country faced an existential threat in a future war with India.
“The international community can draw its own conclusions on the irresponsibility inherent in such remarks, which also reinforces the well-held doubts about the integrity of nuclear command and control in a state where the military is hand-in-glove with terrorist groups,” the Ministry said in a statement.
The Ministry also reaffirmed New Delhi’s position of not giving in to “nuclear blackmail” and assured that it will continue to take all necessary steps to safeguard national security.
Earlier sources in the Central government said the Pakistan Field Marshal’s remarks showed Islamabad is an “irresponsible” state with nuclear weapons. They pointed to a pattern where the Pakistani military always shows its true colours under the support of the United States.
“Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir’s comments show that Pakistan is an irresponsible state with nuclear weapons…Pakistan Army Chief’s statement is part of a pattern; whenever the US supports the Pakistan military, they always show their true colours,” said sources, according to a report by news agency PTI.
They said that the remarks of Pakistan’s de facto military ruler show there is a real danger of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of non-state actors in Pakistan.
“It is a symptom that democracy doesn’t exist in Pakistan; it is their military which controls,” they added.
What Asim Munir Said
Munir reportedly threatened to take down “half the world” if Pakistan faced an existential threat in a future war with India. The remarks were the first nuclear threats known to have ever been delivered from US soil against a third country.
“We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us,” he said, according to reports.
Munir also warned of destroying any infrastructure that India builds on the Indus water channels– which could impede water flow to Pakistan– saying his country has no dearth of missiles. He claimed that New Delhi’s decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty into abeyance after the Pahalgam terror attack in April could put 250 million people at risk of starvation.
“We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, phir das missile sey faarigh kar dengey [we will destroy it with 10 missiles]…The Indus River is not the Indians’ family property. Humein missilon ki kami nahin hai, al-hamdulillah [we have no shortage of missiles, Praise be to God],” Munir reportedly said.
