Latest news with #OverseasPakistanisConvention
Mint
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir backs terror groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir
Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir has backed terror groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that what India describes as terrorism is a 'legitimate struggle' and that Pakistan will continue providing political, diplomatic, and moral support to the Kashmiri people. Munir made the remarks while addressing a passing out parade at the Pakistan Naval Academy on Saturday, when he also said that India has 'twice undertaken acts of unprovoked aggression against Pakistan' and the onus of any future escalation 'will squarely lie with the aggressor'. The speech was reminiscent of Munir's remarks at an Overseas Pakistanis Convention in Islamabad on April 16, less than a week before the Pahalgam terror attack, when he described Kashmir as the 'jugular vein' of Pakistan and said Islamabad will continue backing the struggle against 'Indian occupation'. There was no immediate response from Indian officials to Munir's latest remarks. Munir's previous remarks on Kashmir have been rubbished by the external affairs ministry. 'What India tends to term as terrorism is in fact the legitimate struggle as per the international conventions. Those who endeavoured to subdue the will of Kashmiri people and sought conflict elimination instead of resolution have made it more relevant and pronounced through their own actions,' Munir said while addressing the gathering in Karachi that included top military officers, civilian officials, and diplomats. 'We stand firm with the Kashmiri people for their right of self-determination for the resolution of the internationally recognised long-standing dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir,' he added. Munir contended that 'regional peace will forever remain elusive' and there would be 'perpetual danger of conflict in South Asia' without the 'just and peaceful resolution' of the Kashmir issue. Paying tribute to those who are struggling for 'the right of self-determination', Munir said: 'Pakistan will always continue to provide political, diplomatic and moral support to the valiant people of…Jammu and Kashmir.' India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 to target terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. This triggered four days of intense clashes, with both sides using drones, missiles, and long-range weapons, before they reached an understanding to halt military actions on May 10. Munir claimed India's leadership had 'twice undertaken acts of unprovoked aggression against Pakistan' in recent years, under the 'pretext of counter terrorism'. He was referring to the clashes in May and the cross-border air strike carried out by India in response to the Pulwama suicide bombing in 2019 that killed 40 Indian troopers. At that time, both sides had briefly engaged in aerial battles and skirmishes. 'Pakistan, despite grave provocations, acted with restraint and maturity and demonstrated its commitment to regional peace and stability, which has led to Pakistan's role as net regional stabiliser,' Munir said. 'However, the assumption that Pakistan would have any constraints in the face of any future violation of its sovereignty reflects a dangerous misreading of strategic fundamentals…any enemy acting on perceived vulnerability of Pakistan under the illusion of strategic impunity or miscalculation would get an assured, swift and a very befitting response.'
India.com
30-06-2025
- Politics
- India.com
Asim Munir Courts Fresh Remark, Labels What India Calls Terrorism As Legitimate Struggle
Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir has said that Pakistan will continue to provide diplomatic, political, and moral support to the people of Kashmir, and also stated that what India terms as terrorism is the "legitimate struggle". His statement comes over a month after New Delhi and Islamabad reached a ceasefire agreement after exchanging several airstrikes for multiple days. According to a report by the Hindustan Times, Munir made the controversial statement as he was addressing a passing out parade at the Pakistan Naval Academy on Saturday. The Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Munir said, 'What India tends to term as terrorism is in fact the legitimate struggle as per the international conventions." "Those who endeavoured to subdue the will of Kashmiri people and sought conflict elimination instead of resolution have made it more relevant and pronounced through their own actions,' he added. In his apparent support for the people of Kashmir, Munir said, 'We stand firm with the Kashmiri people for their right of self-determination for the resolution of the internationally recognised long-standing dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir." As per HT, Munir said, "Pakistan will always continue to provide political, diplomatic, and moral support to the valiant people of... Jammu and Kashmir." Munir On Indian Attacks The Pakistan Army Chief also said that India has 'twice undertaken acts of unprovoked aggression against Pakistan', under the 'pretext of counter terrorism'. Praising his own country, Munir also stated that 'Pakistan, despite grave provocations, acted with restraint and maturity and demonstrated its commitment to regional peace and stability...' He also added, "The assumption that Pakistan would have any constraints in the face of any future violation of its sovereignty reflects a dangerous misreading of strategic fundamentals…" The speech echoed Munir's fiery address at the Overseas Pakistanis Convention in Islamabad on April 16, just days before the Pahalgam terror attack, where he provocatively declared Kashmir as Pakistan's 'jugular vein.' Operation Sindoor The Indian Armed Forces, on May 7, launched 'Operation Sindoor' targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This action was taken to avenge the brutal Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 individuals were killed. Following the launch of Operation Sindoor, tensions between India and Pakistan escalated, and both nations exchanged a series of attacks. However, a ceasefire agreement was reached after the Pakistan Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart.
Hindustan Times
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir backs terror groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir
Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir has backed terror groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that what India describes as terrorism is a 'legitimate struggle' and that Pakistan will continue providing political, diplomatic, and moral support to the Kashmiri people. Munir made the remarks at a passing out parade at the Pakistan Naval Academy on Saturday. (AFP/File) Munir made the remarks while addressing a passing out parade at the Pakistan Naval Academy on Saturday, when he also said that India has 'twice undertaken acts of unprovoked aggression against Pakistan' and the onus of any future escalation 'will squarely lie with the aggressor'. The speech was reminiscent of Munir's remarks at an Overseas Pakistanis Convention in Islamabad on April 16, less than a week before the Pahalgam terror attack, when he described Kashmir as the 'jugular vein' of Pakistan and said Islamabad will continue backing the struggle against 'Indian occupation'. There was no immediate response from Indian officials to Munir's latest remarks. Munir's previous remarks on Kashmir have been rubbished by the external affairs ministry. 'What India tends to term as terrorism is in fact the legitimate struggle as per the international conventions. Those who endeavoured to subdue the will of Kashmiri people and sought conflict elimination instead of resolution have made it more relevant and pronounced through their own actions,' Munir said while addressing the gathering in Karachi that included top military officers, civilian officials, and diplomats. 'We stand firm with the Kashmiri people for their right of self-determination for the resolution of the internationally recognised long-standing dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir,' he added. Munir contended that 'regional peace will forever remain elusive' and there would be 'perpetual danger of conflict in South Asia' without the 'just and peaceful resolution' of the Kashmir issue. Paying tribute to those who are struggling for 'the right of self-determination', Munir said: 'Pakistan will always continue to provide political, diplomatic and moral support to the valiant people of…Jammu and Kashmir.' India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 to target terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. This triggered four days of intense clashes, with both sides using drones, missiles, and long-range weapons, before they reached an understanding to halt military actions on May 10. Munir claimed India's leadership had 'twice undertaken acts of unprovoked aggression against Pakistan' in recent years, under the 'pretext of counter terrorism'. He was referring to the clashes in May and the cross-border air strike carried out by India in response to the Pulwama suicide bombing in 2019 that killed 40 Indian troopers. At that time, both sides had briefly engaged in aerial battles and skirmishes. 'Pakistan, despite grave provocations, acted with restraint and maturity and demonstrated its commitment to regional peace and stability, which has led to Pakistan's role as net regional stabiliser,' Munir said. 'However, the assumption that Pakistan would have any constraints in the face of any future violation of its sovereignty reflects a dangerous misreading of strategic fundamentals…any enemy acting on perceived vulnerability of Pakistan under the illusion of strategic impunity or miscalculation would get an assured, swift and a very befitting response.'
New Indian Express
10-05-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Making sense of Munir's madness
So, who blinked first? It might be too early for an informed analysis on the truce after four days of Indo-Pak conflict as information is rather sketchy. The ceasefire violation within a few hours further complicated matters. But the initiative for a telephonic call for talks on Saturday afternoon came from the Pakistani side. Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations called his Indian counterpart and both arrived on a ceasefire agreement. The seeds for the conflict were sown by Pakistan army chief Asim Munir as he recently called Kashmir India's jugular vein and regurgitated the two-nation theory that led to India's partition. "Our stance is very clear, it was our jugular vein, it will be our jugular vein, and we will not forget it. We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle," Gen Munir said while addressing the first Overseas Pakistanis Convention in Islamabad on April 17, attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistanis living abroad. Also, Pakistan's footprint in the Pahalgam massacre of Indian tourists were recently revealed in a news media expose. For, a top US-based space tech company found a sudden spike in orders for high-resolution satellite images of Pahalgam and its surrounding areas barely two months ago from a Pakistan-based geo-spatial company, Business Systems International Pvt Ltd (BSI), the Print reported. The Pakistani firm is linked to federal crimes in the US. Between February 2 and 22, BSI placed at least 12 orders—double the usual number— with Maxar Technologies. BSI became Maxer's partner last year. Orders for Pahalgam satellite images started appearing on the portal in June 2024, months after the partnership deal. The deal is now off. There you have a smoking gun, possibly enough for the US turning the screws on Pakistan's hybrid leadership with Gen Munir at the helm. No wonder, US President Donald Trump sought to take credit for drumming some commonsense and forcing Pakistan to step back.
The Hindu
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Pakistan, Bangladesh and core identity questions
Pakistan reveals a tumultuous confluence of unresolved identity, ideological rigidity, persistent reliance on proxy warfare, and selective amnesia. Two events — seemingly distinct but deeply entangled — have reignited the foundational questions about what Pakistan is and what it seeks to remain. Events of contrast On one front, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir, delivered a speech that resurrected the ghosts of the two-nation theory, the ideological foundation upon which Muhammad Ali Jinnah led the movement for the creation of Pakistan. In April, at the Overseas Pakistanis Convention in Islamabad, Gen. Munir declared that people of Pakistan are 'fundamentally different' from Hindus — by religion, by tradition, by culture, and by ambition. 'Our forefathers thought we were different in every possible aspect of life,' he remarked, invoking the foundational narrative of Pakistan's birth. His language and tone were nostalgic, divisive and arrogant — an impassioned appeal to safeguard Jinnah's ideological legacy from being forgotten. A day later, in Dhaka, Bangladesh asked Pakistan to account for the horrors of its disgusting past. During the first Foreign Secretary-level talks in 15 years, Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary demanded a long-awaited apology for the atrocities committed by Pakistan's army during the 1971 Liberation War. Even though the current regime in Bangladesh is courting Pakistan, the demand for confession of guilt is not merely ironic — it is a regrettable theatre of amnesia couched as strategic pragmatism. However, Pakistan's role during the birth of Bangladesh is an episode of colossal brutality that it still echoes in the nation's soul. Along with the apology for a horrendous campaign of systematic repression, Bangladesh has reiterated its demand for more than $4 billion in reparations — its share of undivided Pakistan's assets, including aid, pension funds and other state resources. The irony here could not be starker, perhaps even tragic. It is a moment rich in historical contradiction: while Pakistan's security establishment affirms the hypothesis that Partition was imperative and morally justified, its former eastern wing — once tethered by fraud and fiction — demands accountability for the violent consequences of that very Partition gone awry, before formal reconciliation can be pursued. A theory, its reinforcement, the gaps The two-nation theory argued that Muslims and Hindus were fundamentally distinct communities, defined by religious and cultural cleavages, and, therefore, could not function cohesively within a unified political framework once colonial rule ended in the Indian subcontinent. But this ideological assertion was not just a political device; it became a deeply embedded mythos, reinforced by the Pakistan state through textbooks and speeches. Yet, the theory contained its own seeds of disintegration. When the cultural and linguistic aspirations of Bengalis of East Pakistan were contemptuously denied, their votes in democratic elections utterly disrespected, and their cultural identity brutally suppressed by the Punjabi elite in Islamabad, the very logic of the two-nation theory turned in upon itself. Gen. Munir's speech, then, needs to be understood not merely as a reaffirmation of a discredited ideology, but as an act of forgetting — a deliberate effacement of South Asian history's inconvenient lessons. It is a return to the familiar comforts of a useless theory that promises certainty in a world increasingly defined by ambiguity and fracture. But such affirmations, no matter how forcefully delivered, do not address the economic, political and security challenges that Pakistan faces. Pakistan has never formally apologised for the atrocities against Bengalis, with successive regimes either denying or downplaying the violence, sometimes blaming rogue elements. Disturbingly, Pakistan appears ready to repeat the same pattern of repression in Balochistan, unapologetically demonstrating similar aggression, denial and unwillingness to engage politically with legitimate grievances. Instead of learning from its mistakes in East Pakistan, Rawalpindi seems trapped in a cycle of dictatorial responses to dissent, reinforcing the very divisions that once led to Pakistan's disintegration. The ideological orientation of the current Bangladeshi regime — emerging after Sheikh Hasina's ouster — represents not a principled shift but rather an opportunistic recalibration, driven by misguided beliefs that are causing significant tensions within the top echelons of the regime in Dhaka and in the relationship between the regime and many of the citizens, particularly as it seeks to distance itself from India and strengthen ties with Pakistan. Nonetheless, for most of the Bangladeshi people, the catastrophic events of 1971 are not matters of distant historical record; they are vivid inter-generational memories, reinforced by the collective trauma surrounding the nation's birth. So profound is the burden of this trauma that it has driven the Dhaka regime to demand both a formal apology and reparations from Pakistan, even as Bangladesh signals a pragmatic turn toward normalisation. However, the demand for moral and material accountability is not driven by vindictiveness, but serves as a cathartic plea for the minimal recognition of responsibility from the aggressor. That Pakistan continues to withhold such recognition is indicative not merely of ideological obstinacy, but of a deeper pathology. One must ask Pakistan's hybrid regime: what, precisely, has been gained through the repetition of ideology at the expense of self-examination? Has the invocation of the two-nation theory made Pakistan more cohesive, more egalitarian, or more at peace with its neighbours — or even with itself? The consequential question now is whether Pakistan can craft a national identity rooted in its own values and aspirations, not just in opposition to the 'Indian other'. The two-nation theory may have been the genesis of Pakistan, but its emotionalism and divisiveness make it a very poor and inadequate guide for national action. As military tensions escalate in the wake of Indian airstrikes on terror camps in Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, the dangers of following the theory are thrown into stark relief. The hybrid regime, grappling with the riddle of the Imran Khan phenomenon, the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan, and strained relations with the Afghan Taliban, can find little solace in the obsolete concept of the two-nation theory. Vinay Kaura is Assistant Professor in the Department of International Affairs and Security Studies at Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Rajasthan; and Non-Resident Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore
