After Pakistan army chief Asif Munir’s anti-India rhetoric in US, Delhi calls it ‘nuclear sabre-rattling’

“We will wait for India to build a dam, and when they do so, we will destroy it,” Munir told members of the Pakistani-American community in Tampa, Florida, according to a report published Monday in The Dawn.

Responding to these comments, sources in Delhi said this is Pakistan’s nuclear blackmail and that it has been using the nuclear bogey for several decades. “For this, it is widely considered to be an irresponsible nuclear-armed state, with a non-trivial risk of nuclear materials or expertise reaching non-state actors. The international community does not trust nuclear weapons in the hands of an institution like the Pakistan military, which is accountable to no one,” the source said.

Calling it “nuclear sabre-rattling”, the sources said Islamabad has a history of rhetorical nuclear brinkmanship while simultaneously claiming the mantle of a “responsible” nuclear actor. Terming it as a source of regional instability, the sources said that the central driver of nuclear instability in South Asia is identified as a military establishment effectively “holding the nuclear button”.

Weeks before the Pahalgam attack, Munir said Pakistan will not forget the issue of Kashmir, asserting, “It was our jugular vein.” India trashed his comments.

Munir is on an official visit to the US and has engaged in high-level interactions with senior political and military leadership, as well as members of the Pakistani diaspora, the Pakistani army said in a statement.

According to highlights of his speech to the Pakistani community, Munir said Kashmir is “not an internal matter of India but an incomplete international agenda”. “As the Quaid-e-Azam had said, Kashmir is the ‘jugular vein’ of Pakistan.”

Munir said his second visit to the US after a gap of one and a half months marks a new dimension in Pakistan-US relations. He added that these visits aim to take the relations on a constructive, sustainable and positive path. Munir also said that Pakistan is extremely grateful to US President Donald Trump, whose strategic leadership has stopped the war between India and Pakistan as well as prevented many other wars around the world.

In June, Munir travelled to the US on a rare five-day trip during which he attended a private luncheon with Trump, an unprecedented gesture typically reserved for visiting heads of state or government. That meeting culminated in Trump’s announcement of enhanced US-Pakistan cooperation in various fields, including an oil deal.

The Pakistan army said in a statement that in Tampa, Munir attended the retirement ceremony of outgoing Commander United States Central Command (CENTCOM), General Michael E Kurilla, and the Change of Command Ceremony marking the assumption of command by Admiral Brad Cooper.

Munir also met with Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, “where matters of mutual professional interest were discussed”. “He extended an invitation to General Caine to visit Pakistan.

On the sidelines, COAS interacted with Chiefs of Defence from friendly nations.”

“During an interactive session with the Pakistani diaspora, COAS urged them to remain confident in Pakistan’s bright future and to actively contribute to attracting investments. The diaspora reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Pakistan’s progress and development,” the statement said.