India decries 'saber rattling' after Pakistan army chief's reported nuclear remarks
Indian media reports, citing sources, quoted Pakistan's Field Marshal Asim Munir as saying: "We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us."
An excerpt of his speech shared by Pakistani security officials did not include the "nuclear nation" remarks.
"Pakistan is a responsible nuclear weapon state with an elaborate command and control structure under full civilian control," a statement from Pakistan's foreign office said.
"It has always exercised discipline and restraint, while dealing with the issues of such importance."
Munir reportedly made the remarks at a black-tie dinner hosted by a Pakistani-origin businessman in Florida on Saturday, where he spoke to a crowd of more than 100 people. The remarks could not be independently verified.
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.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India's foreign ministry, said: "Nuclear saber-rattling is Pakistan's stock-in-trade," adding: "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.
In a version of the speech shared by Pakistani security officials, Munir said: "The (Indian) 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."
Munir was on a visit to the U.S. to attend a farewell event for Gen. Michael Kurilla, the 15th commander of the United States Central Command.
India previously lodged a private diplomatic protest with Washington when U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Munir for a lunch at the White House in June.
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 U.S. under the Trump administration.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
9 hours ago
INTERVIEW: Indian Ambassador to Japan Underscores Quad Ties
News from Japan World Aug 13, 2025 19:42 (JST) Tokyo, Aug. 13 (Jiji Press)--Indian Ambassador to Japan Sibi George has emphasized the bond linking the Quad countries of Australia, India, Japan and the United States, despite sweeping U.S. tariffs on Indian products. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will impose high tariffs on goods from India, which continues to import crude oil from Russia. While some worry that India-U.S. relations would worsen due to the tariff issue, George said in an interview with Jiji Press that there are factors that connect the four countries, indicating that they share such values as democracy and the rule of law. Asked about New Delhi's policies, including whether to impose retaliatory tariffs against the United States, George said the decisions will be made in line with the demands of citizens, noting that Indians "have their requirements." The interview took place in Tokyo on Aug. 1, ahead of India's Independence Day on Aug. 15. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Japan Times
13 hours ago
- Japan Times
India set to allow its private firms to mine and import uranium to help nuclear expansion
India aims to allow private firms to mine, import and process uranium as part of plans to end a decades-old state monopoly over the nuclear sector and bring in billions of dollars to boost the industry, two government sources said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government plans to expand nuclear power production capacity by 12 times by 2047 and it is also relaxing requirements to allow foreign players to take a minority stake in power plants, it was reported in April. If it meets its expansion goal, nuclear will provide 5% of India's total power needs, according to government estimates. Until now, the state has maintained control over the mining, import and processing of uranium fuel because of concerns over the possible misuse of nuclear material, radiation safety and strategic security. It will retain its grip on reprocessing spent uranium fuel and managing plutonium waste, in line with global practice. But to help meet a surge in demand for nuclear fuel as it expands nuclear power production, the government plans to draw up a regulatory framework that would allow private Indian firms to mine, import and process uranium, the two government sources told Reuters. They asked not to be named because the plans are not yet public. The proposed policy, which the sources said was likely to be made public in the current fiscal year, will also permit private players to supply critical control system equipment for nuclear power plants, they said. The Finance Ministry, Department of Atomic Energy and Prime Minister's Office did not respond to requests for comment. Outside India, countries including Canada, South Africa and the United States allow private firms to mine and process uranium. Domestic supply is not enough India has an estimated 76,000 metric tons of uranium enough to fuel 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power for 30 years, according to government data. But the sources said domestic resources would only be able to meet about 25% of the projected increase. The rest would have to be imported and India would need to increase its processing capacity. In announcing its budget on February 1, the government made public its plans to open up the sector without giving details. Some of India's big conglomerates subsequently began drawing up investment plans. But analysts said amending the legislation could be complex. "It's a major and bold initiative by the Indian Government which is critical for achieving the target," said Charudatta Palekar, independent power sector consultant. "The challenge will be to define quickly the rules of engagement with private sector." New Delhi will have to change five laws, including the ones regulating mining and electricity sectors and India's foreign direct investment policy to enable private participation in many identified activities, the sources said.
Japan Times
14 hours ago
- Japan Times
The real nuclear moonshot is here on Earth
In America in 2025 it's tough to know which we will see first, the Epstein files or a nuclear power plant on the moon. The Trump administration certainly seems more committed to the latter. Transportation Secretary and acting head of NASA Sean Duffy wants a lunar-ready reactor by 2030. This is certainly one way of pushing more federal funding toward advanced reactor research. It also magnifies, through a fantastical lens, the broader hype around new nuclear power — and the daunting challenge of getting it deployed to meet our more immediate needs for carbon-free power back here at home. Developing extraterrestrial nuclear power is a worthy research project. If we are to someday establish permanent settlements on the moon, they will require a lot of energy for melting ice, growing food, mining crypto and whatnot. Nuclear power offers the benefit of requiring relatively little fuel for high output and, unlike solar power, could keep running through the roughly two-weeklong lunar night. NASA already has an ongoing effort to develop a 40 kilowatt reactor design, the Fission Surface Power project. A typical nuclear plant is one gigawatt, or 25,000 times that, and even so-called small modular reactor, or SMR, designs usually aim for tens of megawatts. Duffy is aiming for a 100 kilowatt unit. The U.S. has certainly designed nuclear reactors for demanding environments before, like beneath the Greenland ice cap or inside submarines sailing the ocean depths. But developing one that can operate safely in the face of the moon's ultraextreme temperatures, low gravity and exposure to solar radiation, to cite a few wrinkles, is far beyond that. It would also have to be carried almost a quarter-of-a-million miles through space and deposited gently on the lunar surface. The transport cost alone would be literally astronomical. NASA has previously targeted a reactor weight of under six metric tons. Even assuming that could be met, before taking into account the cost of designing and building the thing, shipping it skyward could cost $7 billion alone — or, on a per kilowatt basis, roughly 6,000 times the estimated cost of building a regular nuclear plant on Earth. Putting dollars towards this when ordinary household power bills are taking off possibly doesn't present the best optics. Conceivably, Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, might eventually cut that shipping cost dramatically. But this rather assumes we are all happy putting fissile material on rockets that have sometimes spontaneously disassembled in spectacular fashion as well as U.S. President Donald Trump allowing such a contract to go to one of Elon Musk's companies in the first place. You don't go to the moon to save money, though. The bigger problem here is the five-year goal. True, the U.S. crushed that 1960s end-of-decade space deadline. But the U.S. nuclear power industry's track record is less inspiring. One of the main pitches for SMRs is that they offer a solution to the time and cost overruns that have plagued conventional plants. As of today, however, only one developer, NuScale Power, has received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its reactor, and there are no commercial reactors under construction. Trump has signed several executive orders to reinvigorate the U.S. nuclear sector by streamlining approvals and directing national laboratories and the military to pitch in, calling for 10 gigawatts of new capacity to get under way by the end of this decade. Strategic considerations mean the ambition is laudable enough and there are signs of growing interest in nuclear power, from Silicon Valley's hyperscalers to New York's governor. But interest does not a nuclear renaissance make — and certainly not one that delivers at scale this side of 2030. The inherent risks and higher costs involved in first-of-a-kind deployments of new nuclear capacity mean potential customers would rather see someone else take the plunge first. Even the hyperscalers, with their deep pockets and power-hungry AI ambitions, remain long on intent and short on binding commitments. There is much government push but less in the way of market pull, as Bloomberg NEF's Chris Gadomski summed up in a recent report. Yet you wouldn't know that from looking at the stocks of SMR startups, which have launched early. Duffy's lunar ambitions will no doubt add to the enthusiasm. But for the SMR darlings, delivering on such high-priced expectations, just for here on plain old planet Earth, is a moonshot already. Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy.
