Pakistan's Chief of the Army Staff, Asim Munir, issued a dire threat regarding the likelihood of "nuclear war" while addressing on US soil.
In a speech in Tampa, Florida, the nation's senior military commander warned Pakistan would be ready to unleash devastating global repercussions if it were ever compelled to launch an existence-threatening war with India.
We are a nuclear nation. If we believe that we're going down, we'll take half the world down with us," he said, as reported by media outlets.
This is the first time that such a nuclear threat has been made from US soil against a third country. The threat was apparently made at a dinner party hosted by businessman Adnan Asad, who is also Tampa's honorary consul.
Besides his nuclear threat, Munir also promised to strike at any infrastructure India was going to build along the Indus water canals—projects that could even cut down water supply into Pakistan. Highlighting his nation's missile capacity, he referred to India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty after the April Pahalgam terror attack, cautioning that doing so could compromise food security for up to 250 million individuals.
"We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, phir das missile sey faarigh kar dengey [we will destroy it with 10 missiles]...The Indus River is not the Indians' family property. Humein missilon ki kami nahin hai, al-hamdulillah [we have no shortage of missiles, Praise be to God]," Munir reportedly said.
Pakistan Army Chief is again in the US on his second visit in only two months. On his earlier visit, he had received a White House lunch with President Donald Trump on June 18 when he had proposed the US president's name for a Nobel Prize for what he had termed as peace-making endeavors—a move that he also made at the recent Florida meeting.
About 120 members of the Pakistani diaspora from Florida, according to reports, joined the closed-door gathering, where participants were not allowed to bring cellphones or electronic equipment. Interestingly, an Israel Defence Forces' representative was also reported to have been present.
Munir is said to have spent much of his comments focused on Pakistan's recent military clash with India. He accused New Delhi of not providing detailed information on its casualties during the four-day battle, sparking skepticism over the lack of transparency.
"The Indians should accept their losses...Sportsman spirit is a virtue," he said, adding that Islamabad will also make its losses public, as long as India also conducts a similar exercise.
From his pre-prepared notes, he read, "Ek tweet karwaya tha with Surah Fil and a picture of (the industrialist) Mukesh Ambani to show them what we will do the next time." Surah Al-Fil, also known as "The Elephant," is the 105th chapter of the Quran, which describes how Allah sent birds to drop stones on an enemy's battle elephants and reduced them to "chewed-up straw".
"We'll start from India's East, where they have located their most valuable resources, and then move westwards," Munir was quoted as saying by ThePrint.
Munir, who is conservative-minded, is said to be the first Pakistani Army Chief to have been educated at a seminary.
While issuing his broad threats against India, he also seemed to make an unconscious statement regarding Pakistan's status in relation to its neighbor. In a powerful metaphor, he identified India as a "shiny Mercedes," comparing Pakistan to a "dump truck."
"India is shining, a Mercedes coming on a highway like a Ferrari, but we are a dump truck full of gravel. If the truck hits the car, who is going to be the loser?" he said in a "crude analogy".
Amid speculations of the army chief possibly aspiring to be the next president, Munir also took the opportunity to make the case for military involvement in Pakistani politics, saying, “They say war is too serious to be left to the Generals, but politics is also too serious to be left to the politicians.”
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