India condemned Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir’s US-based nuclear war threat, calling it “nuclear sabre-rattling” and raising concerns over Islamabad’s nuclear command being tied to terrorist groups.
Munir warned of destroying “half the world” if Pakistan faced an existential threat, and threatened Indian infrastructure on the Indus River.
New Delhi vowed to resist “nuclear blackmail,” with officials calling Pakistan an “irresponsible” nuclear state at risk of weapons falling to non-state actors.
India denounced Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir's nuclear war threat on Monday. Pakistan's speciality is nuclear sabre-rattling, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it was regrettable that such comments were made from the territory of a friendly third nation (US).
Speaking to a group of Pakistani-Americans in Tampa, Florida, Field Marshal Munir allegedly threatened to use nuclear weapons if his nation was threatened with extinction in a future conflict with India.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement that these comments highlighted concerns regarding the reliability of Pakistan's nuclear command and control, especially in a condition where the military is "hand-in-glove with terrorist groups." The remarks were made from the territory of a friendly third country, which the ministry described as "regrettable."
"The international community can draw its conclusions on the irresponsibility inherent in such remarks, which 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 Ministry said in a statement.
In addition, the Ministry underlined New Delhi's stance against "nuclear blackmail" and promised to keep taking all necessary actions to protect national security.
According to earlier central government sources, the Pakistan Field Marshal's comments demonstrated that Islamabad is a nuclear-armed, "irresponsible" state. They cited a trend in which, with US backing, the Pakistani military consistently displays its true colours.
According to PTI, sources claimed, "Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir's comments show that Pakistan is an irresponsible state with nuclear weapons...Pakistan Army Chief's statement is part of a pattern; whenever the US supports the Pakistan military, they always show their true colours."
They said that the remarks of Pakistan's de facto military ruler show there is a real danger of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of non-state actors in Pakistan. "It is a symptom that democracy doesn't exist in Pakistan; it is their military which controls," they added.
Asim Munir’s Remarks
According to PTI reports, Munir promised to destroy "half the world" if a future conflict between India and Pakistan posed an existential threat to Pakistan. The statements were the first recorded nuclear threats against a third country to be made from US territory.
"We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us," he said, according to reports.
Munir said that his nation had an ample supply of missiles and threatened to attack any infrastructure India erects on the Indus river channels, which could obstruct water flow to Pakistan. He asserted that 250 million people could face malnutrition as a result of New Delhi's decision to postpone the Indus Waters Treaty following the April Pahalgam terror attack.
"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.
