Nuclear sabre-rattling: India snubs Pakistan army chief Asim Munir

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has reacted sharply to Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir’s remarks directed at India, saying the country will not succumb to “nuclear blackmail”. It accused Islamabad of “nuclear sabre-rattling” and called upon the international community to take note the “irresponsibility” emanating from such threats.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to Munir’s statement made in the US, today said: “We will continue to take all steps necessary to safeguard our national security.”

“Nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan’s stock-in-trade,” Jaiswal said as he called upon the international community to “draw its own conclusions on the irresponsibility inherent in such remarks (of Munir)”.

Jaiswal referred to the fears about the safety of nukes in Pakistan, saying: “It 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 MEA spokesperson said “it was regrettable that the remarks should have been made from the soil of a friendly third country” — the US.

The Pakistan army chief, on a visit to the US — his second after Operation Sindoor — had yesterday cited the nuclear prowess of Islamabad, saying “if we go down, we will take down half the world”. He was speaking at an event hosted by a Pakistan national at Tampa, Florida.

The Field Marshal also questioned India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. “We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, we will destroy it with 10 missiles,” he was reported as saying.