Islamabad, August 11, 2025: Pakistan has strongly criticised India for what it called the “distortion” of remarks attributed to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir during his recent visit to the United States, dismissing New Delhi’s reaction as “immature” and “misleading.”
In his second trip to the US in less than two months, COAS Munir met senior American political and military leaders, attended a farewell ceremony for General Michael Kurilla, the outgoing commander of US Central Command, and interacted with the Pakistani diaspora at an event in Florida.
Indian media, citing unnamed sources, claimed Munir had said: “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us.” The reported remarks drew a sharp response from India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), whose spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal accused Pakistan of “nuclear sabre-rattling” and called the alleged statement “irresponsible,” particularly while on a visit to a “friendly third country.”
Responding on Monday, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan rejected India’s reaction, saying it reflected a “chronic tendency” to twist facts and take statements out of context.
“The Indian narrative of an alleged ‘nuclear blackmail’ is a misleading and self-serving construct,” Khan said. “Pakistan remains firmly opposed to the use or threat of use of force.”
He said India’s “sabre-rattling and war-mongering” were habitual responses whenever confronted, and reiterated that Pakistan is a responsible nuclear-armed state with a robust, fully civilian-controlled command and control system.
“Pakistan has always exercised discipline and restraint while dealing with issues of such importance,” he said, adding that the country’s counterterrorism efforts are “internationally acknowledged,” with security forces serving as “the bulwark against terrorism.”
The FO spokesperson called the Indian MEA’s insinuations “spurious, irresponsible, and without a shred of evidence” and criticised its reference to third countries as a “futile attempt” to exert pressure on Pakistan, which he said reflected “India’s lack of diplomatic confidence.”
Khan reaffirmed that Pakistan will continue to act as a responsible member of the international community but warned that any act of Indian aggression or violation of sovereignty would be met with an “immediate and matching response,” with responsibility for any escalation resting solely on India’s leadership.
Tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours spiked earlier this year following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in April, which killed 26 people and led to the most intense cross-border clashes in decades.
