Pakistan rejects Indian army chief’s remarks, cautions against escalation

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Sunday cautioned that any move against Pakistan could lead to repercussions extending far beyond the region and carrying consequences India may find strategically and politically unacceptable. The military’s media wing stated after Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi remarked that “Pakistan should decide if it wanted to remain part of geography and history.” The ISPR dismissed the comments and said that despite the “delusional and hallucinatory mindset” in Hindutva-driven India, Pakistan remained an influential global state, a recognised nuclear power and a permanent part of South Asia’s historical and geographical landscape. According to the statement, the remarks showed that the Indian leadership had failed to come to terms with Pakistan’s existence even after nearly eight decades and had not drawn lessons from the past. The ISPR further said that such a “hubristic, jingoistic and short-sighted approach” had repeatedly driven South Asia into periods of conflict and instability. The military’s media wing stated that threatening a sovereign nuclear nation with removal from the map was neither strategic signalling nor brinkmanship, but instead reflected “intellectual bankruptcy, recklessness and warmongering.” It added that India was fully aware that any attempt at geographic destruction would result in consequences that were mutual and far-reaching. The ISPR emphasised that responsible nuclear powers exercise restraint, maturity and strategic prudence instead of resorting to rhetoric based on “civilisational superiority or national erasure.” The statement also accused India of overlooking what it described as its own “well-documented history” of fuelling regional instability, supporting terrorism, carrying out transnational assassinations and spreading global disinformation campaigns. New Delhi’s aggressive stance reflected frustration rather than confidence, particularly after what it called India’s failure to und