India decries ‘sabre rattling’ after Pakistan army chief’s reported nuclear remarks
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Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir (second from left in a file photo) had been on a visit to the US to attend a farewell event.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW DELHI – India on Aug 11 accused its neighbour Pakistan of “sabre rattling” and “irresponsibility” after media reports on remarks about nuclear threats in South Asia made by Pakistan’s army chief while on a visit to the US.
The 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.”
Pakistan’s military and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Field Marshal Munir’s comments. An excerpt of his speech shared by Pakistani security officials did not include the “nuclear nation” remarks.
Field Marshal Munir reportedly made the remarks at a black-tie dinner hosted by a Pakistani-origin businessman in Florida on Aug 9, where he spoke to a crowd of more than 100 people. Reuters could not independently verify the remarks.
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.
A spokesman for India’s foreign ministry, Mr Randhir Jaiswal, said: “Nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan’s stock-in-trade.”
He added: “The international community can draw its own conclusions on the irresponsibility inherent in such remarks.”
Mr Jaiswal 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, Field Marshal 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.”
Field Marshal Munir was on a visit to the US to attend a farewell event for General Michael Kurilla, the 15th commander of the United States Central Command.
India previously lodged a private diplomatic protest with Washington when US President Donald Trump hosted Field Marshal Munir for a lunch
Analysts have said that India’s disagreement with Washington over the May 10 ceasefire with Pakistan
