On 9th August (local time), Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has reportedly issued a nuclear threat against India while speaking at a dinner in Florida, United States. According to a report in The Print, Munir warned that if Pakistan faced an existential threat in a future war, “we are a nuclear nation, if we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us.”
Nuclear warning from US soil
This is the first time a Pakistani military leader has issued such a nuclear threat from US soil against a third country. The dinner, where the remarks were made, was hosted by businessman Adhnan Asad, who is the honorary consul of Pakistan in Tampa. Munir also commented on India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and warned that it would starve 250 million people.
He reportedly threatened to blow up the dam India is building. He said, “We will wait for India to build a dam and when it does, we will destroy it with 10 missiles.” Munir emphasised that Pakistan had “no shortage of missiles” and claimed the Indus River was “not the Indians’ family property.”
Notably, the Indus Waters Treaty was suspended by India following the Pahalgam terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 26 Hindus. Terrorists linked to The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, killed Hindus after confirming their identity.
Islamic verses and war references
According to the report, Munir referred to a previous social media post which he admitted to having got done, which featured Surah Fil and a photograph of Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, to signal what Pakistan would “do the next time.” Surah Fil recounts a Quranic story where birds dropped stones on enemy war elephants and destroyed them. It was a direct threat to the life of the Indian businessman.
Munir reportedly said Pakistan would “start from India’s East, where they have located their most valuable resources, and then move westwards.” Notably, Bangladesh’s interim chief Muhammad Yunus had also threatened to occupy the Seven Sisters, the seven states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, in India’s northeast.
Mocking India and using analogies
Munir did not stop there and went on to mock India for its refusal to publicly reveal its losses during the “Four-Day war” of May. He said, “Sportsman spirit is a virtue.” He compared India to a “shining Mercedes” and Pakistan to a “dump truck full of gravel,” suggesting that a collision would hurt the car more than the truck. However, while doing so, he inadvertently admitted that Pakistan stands nowhere when it comes to comparison on economic levels with India.
Religious justification for Pakistan’s destiny
Munir described Pakistan as one of only two states founded on the basis of the Islamic profession of faith, alongside the Prophet Muhammad’s Medina. He incorrectly claimed that Medina was renamed Tayyiba, and said God had rewarded Medina with resources, just as Pakistan would be blessed with rare earths, minerals, and hydrocarbons.
The guests at the event were not allowed to carry mobile phones. This report is based on a reconstruction of the speech by The Print, based on statements by several guests.
