"We'll Take Half World Down With Us": Pak Army Chief Asim Munir's Nuclear Threat In US

NDTV

3 days ago

Washington:
Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir has openly warned of a "nuclear war" from American soil. Addressing an event in Tampa, Florida, Pakistan's de facto military ruler threatened to take down "half the world" if his country faced an existential threat in a future war with India.
"We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us," he said, according to reports.
The remarks were the first nuclear threats known to have ever been delivered from US soil against a third country. They were reportedly made during a dinner hosted for Munir by businessman Adnan Asad, who serves as the honorary consul for Tampa.
On The Indus Waters Treaty
Pakistan's Field Martial also threatened to destroy any infrastructure that India builds on the Indus water channels-- which could impede water flow to Pakistan-- saying his country has no dearth of missiles. Munir claimed that New Delhi's decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty into abeyance after the Pahalgam terror attack in April could put 250 million people at risk of starvation.
"We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, phir das missile sey faarigh kar dengey [we will destroy it with 10 missiles]...The Indus River is not the Indians' family property. Humein missilon ki kami nahin hai, al-hamdulillah [we have no shortage of missiles, Praise be to God]," Munir reportedly said.
The Pakistan Army Chief is on his second visit to the US in two months. On his last visit, he was invited for a White House luncheon with President Trump on June 18. During the visit, he had recommended the US President's name for a Nobel Prize for his supposed peace-making efforts-- a proposal he repeated at the Florida event.
Per reports, an estimated 120 Florida-based members of Pakistani origin attended the event, where participants were not allowed to carry cellphones or other digital devices. A representative of the Israel Defence Forces was also reportedly present at the function.
India-Pakistan Military Conflict
During the event, Munir also reportedly dedicated a substantial part of his speech to Pakistan's recent military conflict with India and questioned New Delhi's decision not to provide specific details of its losses during the four-day war.
"The Indians should accept their losses...Sportsman spirit is a virtue," he said, adding that Islamabad will also make its losses public, as long as India also conducts a similar exercise.
From his pre-prepared notes, he read, "Ek tweet karwaya tha with Surah Fil and a picture of (the industrialist) Mukesh Ambani to show them what we will do the next time." Surah Al-Fil, also known as "The Elephant," is the 105th chapter of the Quran, which describes how Allah sent birds to drop stones on an enemy's battle elephants and reduced them to "chewed-up straw".
"We'll start from India's East, where they have located their most valuable resources, and then move westwards," Munir was quoted as saying by ThePrint.
Munir, a conservative, is reportedly the first Pakistan army chief to have a seminary education.
"Crude Anology"
Between expansive threats against India, the Pakistan Army Chief inadvertently admitted Islamabad's current standing vis-à-vis New Delhi. He called India a shiny Mercedes, compared to "dump truck" Pakistan.
"India is shining, a Mercedes coming on a highway like a Ferrari, but we are a dump truck full of gravel. If the truck hits the car, who is going to be the loser?" he said in a "crude analogy".
Next President?
Amid speculations of the army chief possibly aspiring to be the next president, Munir also took the opportunity to make the case for military involvement in Pakistani politics, saying, 'They say war is too serious to be left to the Generals, but politics is also too serious to be left to the politicians.'