If we go down, we’ll take down half the world: Munir plays N-card in US

Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, who is on a visit to the US, the second in less than two months after the Indo-Pak conflict, has reportedly played the nuclear card, threatening that if Islamabad goes down, it will take down half the world.

Munir was at an event hosted by a Pakistani national at Tampa, Florida, on Saturday when he said, “We are a nuclear nation. If we go down, we’ll take down half the world with us.”

Sources in India confirmed media reports regarding the outrageous remarks made by the Pakistan army chief in the US. Munir also questioned India’s decision to hold in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty. The sources quoted Munir as having said, “We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, we will destroy it with 10 missiles”.

Officially, Munir is in the US to attend the retirement ceremony of the outgoing commander of the US Central Command, Gen Michael E Kurilla, and the change of command ceremony for the incoming commander, Admiral Brad Cooper.

Munir also met the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Dan Caine, to discuss “matters of mutual professional interest”, said a statement by the Pakistani army’s media wing on Sunday.

At the meeting, the Pakistan army chief extended an invitation to General Caine to visit Pakistan.

The Pakistan army chief lauded General Kurilla’s “exemplary leadership and his invaluable contribution to strengthening bilateral military cooperation”. On Admiral Cooper, Munir expressed “confidence in continued collaboration to address shared security challenges”.

In the past few months, General Kurilla publicly praised Pakistan. Munir’s US trip follows a trip to Pakistan by General Kurilla. During this visit, the Pakistani government conferred the US General with the Nishan-i-Imtiaz.

Earlier on August 2, the US Central Command put out a statement on General Kurilla’s visit to Pakistan — “In Islamabad, the US Central Command co-hosted the Central and South Asia (CASA) Chiefs of Defence Conference. Chiefs of Defence and leaders from Pakistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the US were present.”

Ties between India and the US have been uneasy in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, India’s counterstrike after the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 persons dead.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that he brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, a claim denied by the Narendra Modi government. “We had said from day one that our action was non-escalatory. No leader in the world asked us to stop Operation Sindoor,” Prime Minister Modi said during the Operation Sindoor debate in Parliament last month.