Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir once again made anti-India statements, while his troops have suffered several setbacks in the ongoing conflict with the Taliban.
Addressing the passing out parade at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, Munir said that “there is no place for war in a nuclear environment”, Dawn news reported.
Munir, whose forces had lost several key air bases in the brief conflict with India after Operation Sindoor, claimed that Pakistan would not be intimidated.
Munir, while trying to hide the fact that it was his DGMO who had demanded a ceasefire after the Indian strikes, said, “We will never be intimidated or pressured by your rhetoric and will respond decisively to even the slightest provocation, without hesitation, to the best of our ability. The responsibility for further escalation of tensions, which could ultimately have disastrous consequences for the entire region and beyond, will rest squarely on India.”
Munir said, “If a new wave of hostilities begins, Pakistan will respond far beyond the expectations of those who initiated it.”
During Operation Sindoor, the Indian Air Force destroyed 12–13 Pakistani fighter aircraft, including four to five F-16s on the ground and five F-16s and JF-17s in the air, as well as two spy planes.
The Indian Air Force also carried out strikes on several Pakistani air bases, damaging radars, command centres, runways, hangars and surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems.
Faced with this situation, Munir chose the path of rhetoric to hide the facts.
He said, “With the decreasing separation between conflict and communication areas, the reach and lethality of our weapons systems will destroy the illusionary defense of India’s geographical battle zone. The deeply traumatic retaliatory military and economic losses it will cause will be beyond the imagination and calculation of those who want to spread anarchy and instability.”
India had carried out precision strikes on terrorist structures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoJK) in May this year. The attacks were carried out in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, in which 26 civilians were killed.
Indian armed forces effectively repelled the subsequent Pakistani attack and bombed its air bases, shooting down several of its aircraft.