Pakistan and US flags in picture, Pak Army chief Munir (Inset)
New Delhi: Pakistan Army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, not only boasted of his country's nuclear arsenal during a visit to the United States but also threatened to destroy the dams to be built by India on the Indus.
What may also raise the hackles in New Delhi is a statement issued by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, affirming that the military partnership between America and Pakistan was necessary for nuclear security in South Asia.
The Pakistan Army chief’s not-so-subtle nuclear threat against India on US soil came even as President Donald Trump’s tariff tirade of late strained the relations between New Delhi and Washington, D.C. Trump, himself, had on June 19 hosted Munir, whom India accused of provoking the April 22 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir with an incendiary speech.
Munir attended the farewell ceremony of General Michael Erik Kurilla, the outgoing commander of the US Central Command, at the Tampa Convention Centre on August 8. Kurilla, who had called Pakistan a phenomenal counterterrorism partner of the US just a few weeks ago, relinquished command to Admiral Brad Cooper of the American Navy.
The Pakistan Army chief also met the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, and discussed “counterterrorism cooperation efforts in the region and the strong relationship between the two militaries”.
“The US-Pakistan military partnership is necessary for advancing shared security goals, promoting regional stability, and supporting peace and nuclear security in South Asia, Joseph Holstead, a US military spokesperson, said.
Munir also attended a dinner hosted in his honour by Pakistani American businessman Adnan Asad in Tampa. Islamabad had appointed Asad as an honorary consul in Orlando, Florida. The dinner was attended by several Pakistani Americans settled in and around Florida.
The cross-border flare-up between India and Pakistan between May 7 and 10 came up for discussion during the dinner. Munir purportedly said that Pakistan was a nuclear power and, if it ever had to go down, it would take half of the world with it.
He also slammed India for suspending its Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan in the wake of the killing of 26 people, mostly tourists, at Baisaran near Pahalgam in J&K on April 22. He said that Pakistan would wait for India to complete building the dams on the Indus and its tributaries and then fire missiles to destroy the dams, according to the reports received by New Delhi.
India responded to the carnage in J&K by launching “Operation Sindoor” early on May 7 and carrying out precision strikes targeting terrorist camps in Pakistan as well as in areas under illegal occupation of Pakistan.
The Pakistan Army retaliated, targeting civilians and military facilities in India. The cross-border offensive and counter-offensive came to a halt on May 10 when both sides reached an understanding.
Soon after the launch of “Operation Sindoor”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already said that New Delhi would henceforth similarly respond to all cross-border terrorist attacks on the territory of India, without yielding to the nuclear blackmail by Pakistan.
Trump, over the past three months, repeatedly claimed credit for brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. New Delhi rejected his claim, but Islamabad not only endorsed it, but also nominated the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The US president recently imposed a 50% tariff on imports from India. He accused New Delhi of imposing high tariffs and erecting non-tariff barriers for the US companies doing business in India.
He also criticised India for continuing to buy weapons and energy from Russia, defying the sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union on the former Soviet Union nation for its special military operations in Ukraine. The US president also called the economies of India and Russia ‘dead’. He even announced a trade deal between Pakistan and the US.