India alert to Pak threats, can't ignore Islamabad's asymmetric deterrence: Tharoor

New Delhi,UPDATED: Dec 26, 2025 23:20 IST

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday warned that India cannot ignore Pakistan’s evolving military strategy, particularly its focus on hypersonic missile technology and asymmetric deterrence. In an exclusive interview with India Today TV’s consulting editor Rajdeep Sardesai, Tharoor discussed General Asim Munir’s growing influence and rising anti-India radicalism in Pakistan, to which he replied that India has learnt from past experiences with Pakistan and must remain fully prepared.

“After the barrage of drones, rockets, and missiles they sent us, they are now pursuing hypersonic technologies,” he said, adding that the country’s new military doctrine, known as asymmetric deterrence, “is not something we can lightly ignore.”

Highlighting Pakistan’s internal dynamics, Tharoor described the country as “very problematic” with a nominal civilian government largely dominated by the military. He pointed to economic fragility and reliance on foreign aid as factors that could encourage military adventurism.

"Pakistan is a very, very problematic state at various levels," Tharoor said. "It is a nominally civilian government that has been created by the military and is dominated by the military, so the military's agenda will always be outsized in terms of the policy choices there."

The Congress MP also highlighted Pakistan's economic weakness. "It is economically fragile," Tharoor added. "It's had a lot of money coming in from various international and western donors, and that may help give it a lifeline for a while, but economic fragility often leads to military adventurism.”

Tharoor compared the two economies, noting that Pakistan’s GDP growth stands at 2.7 per cent, while India’s growth is around 7 per cent or higher.

He also highlighted Pakistan’s moves into sectors where India has a strong presence, saying the country is expanding in areas such as textiles and agriculture, which could increase competition in regional markets.

The discussion then moved to Pakistan’s expanding ties with the United States and broader shifts in global geopolitics.

While discussing the growing bilateral ties between the two nations, Tharoor said Pakistan has offered mineral access to the US and transferred its cryptocurrency business to a company connected to Zachary Witkoff and Donald Trump’s sons.

He added that with support from Saudi Arabia and backing from China, Pakistan may feel less compelled to engage with India.

“There’s no doubt that the tectonic plates in the world are shifting, and we are entering a period of turbulence,” Tharoor said. “The question is not who will rein in anybody, but how we manage those who cannot be reined in.”

Turning to China and regional issues, Tharoor spoke about Bangladesh, noting that the country “is grappling with its own problems. They have energy shortages, inflationary pressures, and declining investor confidence.”

The Congress MP also warned that Bangladesh’s discussions on defence pacts with Pakistan suggest that “at this point, they really seem to want to give the impression that India is their enemy.”

He added that India has proposed regional connectivity plans through ports, rail, and energy grids, which “would actually help Bangladesh, but that depends heavily on stability in the country.”

When asked whether India should be concerned about rising instability in its neighbourhood, including the toppling of a government in Nepal and increasing anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh, Shashi Tharoor said a peaceful and stable Bangladesh is crucial for India, warning that instability could turn the country into “India’s soft underbelly.”

Tharoor said, “We know that Pakistan, in the past, the ISI has been fishing in troubled waters through that soft underbelly.” Tharoor added, “There has also been a problem of militants in the northeast seeking refuge in Bangladesh, obtaining safe haven, crossing over, wreaking havoc, and then returning.”

The Congress leader also raised concern over provocative rhetoric from student leaders, saying some are “openly threatening to sever our seven sisters northeastern states from the rest of the country” and are “providing refuge to separatist elements.”

On communal tensions, he added, “The Islamist forces, Jamaat-e-Islami in particular, have added a layer of communal anxiety to all of this.”

Lastly, when asked about India’s presence and influence on the global stage, Tharoor emphasised the need for national unity in foreign policy, saying, “No BJP foreign policy or Congress foreign policy, we just have Indian foreign policy. If someone in politics enjoys seeing PM Modi lose and enjoys that, I just see loss for India.” Quoting Jawaharlal Nehru, he added, “Who will live if India dies. For me, India always comes first.”

- Ends