IN a sharp response to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reported resolve to retaliate militarily over any terrorist attacks, Pakistan’s military has warned that any Indian aggression would be met with decisive force — beginning with strikes deep inside India.
In an interview with The Economist, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry also rubbished rumours that Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir might be positioning himself for the presidency.
The military spokesperson has done well by making categorical statements on these two important issues in the backdrop of continued threats being hurled by the Indian leadership on Pakistan and attempts being made by some circles to pollute the internal atmosphere by creating an impression that the Army Chief has political ambitions. The warning of the DG, ISPR is not a hollow claim as Pakistan effectively proved its capability to inflict pinching harm on the enemy in the recent conflict with informed analysts and strategists opining that Pakistan has much more surprises in store for India in case New Delhi again embarked on a misadventure. Pakistan was not in the habit of unnecessarily publicizing its defence potential but a warning was necessary to send a strong message to India and the world at large that aggression will have serious consequences and might jeopardize security and economy of the region. It is rightly concluded that the statement was intended to convey Pakistan’s readiness to deliver a powerful and strategic response to any Indian provocation, adding that it referred explicitly to targeting deep inside India’s eastern economic hubs in case of aggression, not involving any third country as is being propagated by Indian media as part of deliberate attempts to create confusion. Hopefully, India will get the right message that its own economic heartland will fall victim to any misadventure. As for speculations about Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir becoming President of the country, the spokesperson said such rumours are baseless and there was no truth to claims the Field Marshall was eyeing at the presidency. Similar clarifications were also made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi but the latest statement comes from the most relevant source. National and global standing of COAS Syed Asim Munir has reached new heights due to his thorough professionalism and it seems some quarters are trying to undermine his towering stature.
