Pakistan's military chief 'warns "we'll take half the world down with us" in nuclear weapon threat'
Field Marshal Asim Munir is said to have told attendees of a black-tie dinner in Florida on Saturday: 'We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us'.
According to ThePrint, an Indian news outlet that reported the remarks, Munir also told dinner guests that Pakistan was willing to destroy India's water infrastructure: 'We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, we will destroy it with 10 missiles.
Referring to a major waterway that India and Pakistan have fought over for decades, he said: 'The Indus river is not the Indians' family property, we have no shortage of missiles, Praise be to God.'
Munir, who has led Pakistan's army since 2022, was in the US to attend a farewell event for General Michael Kurilla, the 15th commander of the United States Central Command.
Pakistani officials denied he made the specific comments about taking down half the world, instead claiming he had said: '[India's] aggression has brought the region to the brink of a dangerously escalating war, where a bilateral conflict due to any miscalculation will be a grave mistake.'
Despite this, a spokesperson for India's foreign ministry admonished the reported remarks: 'Nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan's stock-in-trade... The international community can draw its own conclusions on the irresponsibility inherent in such remarks.'
He said it was also regrettable that the reported remarks should have been made while in a friendly third country.
India and Pakistan both possess nuclear weapons and fought their deadliest battle in decades in May, sparked by an attack on tourists the previous month in Indian Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians.
Both nations accused the other of violating the ceasefire between them.
Multiple explosions were heard in two cities in Indian-controlled Kashmir just hours after Donald Trump boasted a ceasefire with Pakistan had been reached in May.
India's foreign minister Vikram Misri accused Pakistan of 'repeated violations' and said the Indian armed forces 'are giving an adequate and appropriate response.'
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry in Islamabad said Pakistan 'remains committed to faithful implementation' of the truce.
'Notwithstanding the violations being committed by India in some areas, our forces are handling the situation with responsibility and restraint,' it said.
In June, India lodged a private diplomatic protest with Washington when President Donald Trump hosted Munir for a lunch at the White House.
Analysts have said that India's disagreement with Washington over the May 10 ceasefire with Pakistan, and Trump's renewed engagement with Islamabad, have contributed to a recent setback in ties between India and the US under the Trump administration.
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