New Delhi: Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, has escalated the rhetoric against India and the Afghan Taliban, accusing both of working in tandem through ‘militant proxies’ to destabilise Pakistan.
Speaking at the Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad’s Kakul, Munir said Saturday that Pakistan would respond forcefully if ‘proxies’ continued to operate from across the border.
“We will never be intimidated nor coerced by your rhetoric and shall respond decisively, beyond proportions, to even a minor provocation, without any qualms. Our adversary’s use of Fitna al-Hind and Fitna al-Khawarij as hired guns exposes its … hypocritical and heinous face to the world. Equally disconcerting is use of Afghan soil for terrorism in Pakistan,” he said.
Pakistan refers to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as Fitna al-Khawarij. And in July, it officially designated all militant groups operating in Balochistan as ‘Fitna al-Hindustan’. Islamabad accuses India of sponsoring TTP and the militancy in Balochistan.
“Afghan Taliban regime should rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan,” Munir said Saturday. He went on to add, “Rest assured, like our victory in the conventional domain, every State proxy of our neighbour will be razed to dust, God-willing. We will not bow to misguided terrorists having a perverted interpretation of Islam.”
The remarks came just days after Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif alleged that the Taliban was fighting “India’s proxy war” against Pakistan from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.
Munir then threatened India, saying Pakistan would respond “decisively, beyond proportions, to even a minor provocation”.
“I advise and firmly caution India’s military leadership that there is no space for war in a nuclearised environment. The onus of ensuing escalations, which may bear catastrophic consequences for the entire region, will squarely lie with India,” he said.
“The battle-hardened army of Pakistan has successfully displayed its strength in both the sub-conventional and conventional domains,” the Pakistan Army chief declared, adding that Pakistan’s response to any future aggression would inflict “military and economic losses far beyond expectations of initiators”.
“With diminishing distinctions between conflict and communication zones, the reach and lethality of our weapon systems will shatter the misconceived immunity of India’s geographic warspace. The deeply hurting retributive military and economic losses inflicted will be much beyond the imagination and calculation of the perpetrators of chaos and instability,” he said.
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Munir on Trump, rare earth elements & the Muslim world
Playing along Pakistan’s current diplomatic line, Munir then praised US President Donald Trump for his “personal efforts and strategic leadership to bring peace to multiple conflict-prone areas of the world,” while calling Pakistan a “net regional stabiliser” with deepening ties with China, Saudi Arabia, and a “re-energised” partnership with the United States.
Playing all sides, he also hailed China-Pakistan cooperation as an “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership,” before alluding to Pakistan’s rare earth minerals.
“The treasures hidden beneath our land for decades have started to surface as a silver lining for our bright future. Our vibrant youth, filled with talent, is making marvels in a multitude of domains,” he said. Pakistan has reportedly offered the port of Pasni, located in the mineral-rich province of Balochistan, to the US as part of its latest effort to court Trump, Financial Times reported earlier this month.
While Trump has prioritised securing global supply chains for critical minerals amid intensifying US-China competition over rare earth elements essential for advanced technologies, Pakistan signed a $500 million memorandum of understanding with Missouri-based US Strategic Metals (USSM). Munir was among those present at the signing.
Munir then claimed Islamabad made “humble contributions towards the peaceful steering of negotiations with Iran,” and highlighted that Pakistan’s ties with Muslim nations were “thriving at an exponential rate”.
“Remember, our enemies are hell-bent upon driving a wedge between our people and the armed forces for their ulterior motives. Let me remind them that the bond between the people and the armed forces is unshakable,” the Field Marshal said.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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