Latest news with #GeneralSahirShamshadMirza
Arab News
3 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan raises alarm over risks to Asia-Pacific stability amid India tensions
ISLAMABAD: A top Pakistani general on Sunday raised alarmed over risks to Asia-Pacific stability in the absence of regional crisis management frameworks, amid prevailing tensions between Pakistan and India. Pakistan and India last month engaged in a worst standoff between them in decades that saw the neighbors attack each other with jets, missiles, drones and artillery, killing around 70 people on both sides before the United States brokered a ceasefire on May 10. The conflict, triggered by an attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir's Pahalgam town that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan, alarmed the world powers and raised fears that it could spiral into a full-blown war and bring the archfoes' nuclear arsenals into play. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Pakistan's Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairman, said the recent India-Pakistan conflict underscored how crisis management frameworks remained 'hostage to countries' belligerence.' 'The recent standoff amply underlines significance of maintaining open channels of communications to avert crises as and when they erupt. Post-Pahalgam [attack], the threshold of an escalatory war has come dangerously low, implying greater risk on both sides, just not in the disputed territory, but all of India and all of Pakistan,' he said. 'In future, given the Indian policies and polities' extremist mindset, absence of a crisis management mechanism may not give enough time to the global powers to intervene and effect cessation of hostilities.' Bitter rivals India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir, since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. Before the conflict, both nations unleashed a raft of punitive measures against each other, with India suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms and Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines. India has said the treaty would remain in abeyance. Gen Mirza said New Delhi's move to suspend the treaty is in 'total defiance of the international laws, since it is an existential threat for the people of Pakistan.' 'If there is any effort to stop, divert or delay Pakistan's share of water, as clearly spelt out by our National Security Committee, it could be considered as an act of war,' he added.
Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- General
- Al Arabiya
Pakistan, India close to completing border troop reduction: Senior Pakistani general
Pakistan and India are close to reducing the troop build up along their border to levels before conflict erupted between the nuclear-armed neighbors this month, a top Pakistani military official told Reuters on Friday, although he warned the crisis had increased the risk of escalation in the future. Both sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery in four days of clashes, their worst fighting in decades, before a ceasefire was announced. The spark for the latest fighting between the old enemies was an April 22 attack in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. New Delhi blamed the incident on 'terrorists' backed by Pakistan, a charge denied by Islamabad. On May 7, India launched missiles at what it said were 'terrorist infrastructure' sites across the border and as Pakistan responded with its own attacks, both countries built up additional forces along the frontier. General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Pakistan's chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said the two militaries had started the process of drawing down troop levels. 'We have almost come back to the pre-22nd April situation... we are approaching that, or we must have approached that by now,' said Mirza, the most senior Pakistani military official to speak publicly since the conflict. India's ministry of defence and the office of the Indian chief of defence staff did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the remarks by Mirza. Mirza, who is in Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue forum, said while there was no move towards nuclear weapons during this conflict, it was a dangerous situation. 'Nothing happened this time,' he said. 'But you can't rule out any strategic miscalculation at any time, because when the crisis is on, the responses are different.' He also said the risk of escalation in the future had increased since the fighting this time was not limited to the disputed territory of Kashmir, the scenic region in the Himalayas that both nations rule in part but claim in full. The two sides attacked military installations in their mainland's but neither has acknowledged any serious damage. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan this month that New Delhi would target 'terrorist hideouts' across the border again if there were new attacks on India. 'Dangerous trend' The two countries have fought three major wars, two of them over Kashmir, and numerous armed skirmishes since both were born out of British colonial India in 1947. India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of Kashmir that began in 1989 and has killed tens of thousands. Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination. 'This (conflict) lowers the threshold between two countries who are contiguous nuclear the future, it will not be restricted to the disputed territory. It would come down to (the) whole of India and (the) whole of Pakistan,' Mirza said. 'This is a very dangerous trend.' Reuters has reported that the rapid escalation of hostilities ended in part because of behind-the-scenes diplomacy involving the US, India and Pakistan, and the key role played by Washington in brokering peace. India has denied any third-party role in the ceasefire and said that any engagement between India and Pakistan has to be bilateral. But Mirza warned that international mediation might be difficult in the future because of a lack of crisis management mechanisms between the countries. 'The time window for the international community to intervene would now be very less, and I would say that damage and destruction may take place even before that time window is exploited by the international community,' he said. Pakistan was open to dialogue, he added, but beyond a crisis hotline between the directors general of military operations and some hotlines at the tactical level on the border, there was no other communication between the two countries. India's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday 'talks and terror don't go together' in response to a question on the possibility of dialogue with Pakistan. Mirza said there were no backchannel discussions, or informal talks, to ease tensions. He also said he had no plans to meet General Anil Chauhan, India's chief of defense staff, who is also in Singapore for the Shangri-La forum. 'These issues can only be resolved by dialogue and consultations, on the table. They cannot be resolved on the battlefield,' Mirza said.
Reuters
5 days ago
- General
- Reuters
Exclusive: Pakistan, India close to completing border troop reduction, senior Pakistani general says
SINGAPORE, May 30 (Reuters) - Pakistan and India are close to reducing the troop build up along their border to levels before conflict erupted between the nuclear-armed neighbours this month, a top Pakistani military official told Reuters on Friday, although he warned the crisis had increased the risk of escalation in the future. Both sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery in four days of clashes, their worst fighting in decades, before a ceasefire was announced. The spark for the latest fighting between the old enemies was an April 22 attack in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. New Delhi blamed the incident on "terrorists" backed by Pakistan, a charge denied by Islamabad. On May 7, India launched missiles at what it said were "terrorist infrastructure" sites across the border and as Pakistan responded with its own attacks, both countries built up additional forces along the frontier. General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Pakistan's chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said the two militaries had started the process of drawing down troop levels. "We have almost come back to the pre-22nd April situation... we are approaching that, or we must have approached that by now," said Mirza, the most senior Pakistani military official to speak publicly since the conflict. India's ministry of defence and the office of the Indian chief of defence staff did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the remarks by Mirza. Mirza, who is in Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue forum, said while there was no move towards nuclear weapons during this conflict, it was a dangerous situation. "Nothing happened this time," he said. "But you can't rule out any strategic miscalculation at any time, because when the crisis is on, the responses are different." He also said the risk of escalation in the future had increased since the fighting this time was not limited to the disputed territory of Kashmir, the scenic region in the Himalayas that both nations rule in part but claim in full. The two sides attacked military installations in their mainlands but neither has acknowledged any serious damage. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan this month that New Delhi would target "terrorist hideouts" across the border again if there were new attacks on India. The two countries have fought three major wars, two of them over Kashmir, and numerous armed skirmishes since both were born out of British colonial India in 1947. India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of Kashmir that began in 1989 and has killed tens of thousands. Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination. "This (conflict) lowers the threshold between two countries who are contiguous nuclear the future, it will not be restricted to the disputed territory. It would come down to (the) whole of India and (the) whole of Pakistan," Mirza said. "This is a very dangerous trend." Reuters has reported that the rapid escalation of hostilities ended in part because of behind-the-scenes diplomacy involving the U.S., India and Pakistan, and the key role played by Washington in brokering peace. India has denied any third-party role in the ceasefire and said that any engagement between India and Pakistan has to be bilateral. But Mirza warned that international mediation might be difficult in the future because of a lack of crisis management mechanisms between the countries. "The time window for the international community to intervene would now be very less, and I would say that damage and destruction may take place even before that time window is exploited by the international community," he said. Pakistan was open to dialogue, he added, but beyond a crisis hotline between the directors general of military operations and some hotlines at the tactical level on the border, there was no other communication between the two countries. India's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday "talks and terror don't go together" in response to a question on the possibility of dialogue with Pakistan. Mirza said there were no backchannel discussions, or informal talks, to ease tensions. He also said he had no plans to meet General Anil Chauhan, India's chief of defence staff, who is also in Singapore for the Shangri-La forum. "These issues can only be resolved by dialogue and consultations, on the table. They cannot be resolved on the battlefield," Mirza said.
