Pakistan Army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, warned India on Saturday, demanding New Delhi to resolve disputes while cautioning that “there is no space for war in a nuclearised environment.” Speaking at the passing-out parade of cadets at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, Abbottabad, Munir said Pakistan would respond far beyond expectations to any provocation, ANI reported.
Munir issues nuclear warning to India at military parade
“We will never be intimidated nor coerced by your rhetoric and shall respond decisively, beyond proportion, to even a minor provocation without any qualms,” Munir said, according to ANI. “The responsibility for any escalation, which could have catastrophic consequences for the region and beyond, will rest entirely with India.” He continued, “Should a fresh wave of hostilities be triggered, Pakistan would respond much beyond the expectations of the initiators.”
This is Munir’s second nuclear warning to India in just two months. In August, during a speech to the Pakistani diaspora in Tampa, Florida, he said, “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we will take half the world down with us.”
Munir’s remarks come amid recent cross-border clashes with Afghanistan. The act resulted in mass casualties on both sides. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of allowing militants to plan attacks against the country from its soil, including the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has been responsible for multiple assaults within Pakistan’s borders. In response, Pakistan conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan, claiming 17 lives, out of which 3 were cricketers.
In the past few months, both Munir and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have met US President Donald Trump multiple times. Munir met Trump in June, shortly after India launched Operation Sindoor, and attended the retirement ceremony of the US Central Command commander in August. He then visited the White House in September alongside Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the UN General Assembly session.
Earlier this year, he referred to Kashmir as Islamabad’s “jugular vein,” a remark that drew a rebuttal from India’s Ministry of External Affairs.“How can anything foreign be in a jugular vein? Kashmir is a Union Territory of India. It’s only relationship with Pakistan is through the evacuation of illegally occupied territories.”
In May, India launched Operation Sindoor in response to the April Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians. During the strikes, the Indian Air Force destroyed 12–13 Pakistani combat aircraft, including several F-16s. Multiple airbases were damaged alongside radars, command centres, runways, hangars, and surface-to-air missile systems. In response to the claims, Munir turned to bold rhetoric to project Pakistan’s strength and said, “With diminishing distinctions between conflict and communication zones, the reach and lethality of our weapon systems will shatter the misconceived immunity of India’s geographic war-space. The deeply hurting retributive military and economic losses inflicted will be much beyond the imagination and calculation of the perpetrators of chaos and instability.”