Pakistan Army Chief and selfField Marshal Asim Munir raised the nuclear issue during a dinner meeting in the United States, warning that Islamabad has the capability to target India’s nuclear assets.
According to an exclusive report in The Print, Munir claimed that Pakistan could “pick off” Indian nuclear installations.
Speaking at a black-tie dinner in Tampa, Florida, hosted to honour General Michael Kurilla, outgoing commander of U.S. Central Command, Munir delivered what The Print describes as the first nuclear threat ever known to have been uttered on U.S. soil against a third country, declaring: “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us.”
No transcript was circulated, and guests were barred from using digital devices—The Print reconstructed the speech from attendees’ recollections.
Munir then pivoted to the contentious issue of the Indus Waters Treaty, warning that India’s decision to suspend the agreement could jeopardise the lives of 250 million Pakistanis.
“We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, phir 10 missile sey faarigh kar dengey [we will destroy it with ten missiles],” he said, adding, “The Indus River is not the Indians’ family property. Humein missilon ki kami nahin hai, al-Hamdulillah [we have no shortage of missiles, Praise be to God],” again evading any written record as The Print pieced together his remarks from multiple sources.
According to The Print report, the function followed formalities that underscored Pakistan’s religious and ideological messaging: it began with a Quranic recitation followed by the playing of the national anthem, all in a carefully curated setting of halal western-style fare served to expatriates.
Munir mocked Indian reticence over its own combat losses, offering instead for Pakistan to reveal its sacrifices if India would reciprocate. He also invoked allegorical imagery, comparing India to a “shining Mercedes” and Pakistan to a “dump truck full of gravel,” warning, “if the truck hits the car, who is going to be the loser?”
Munir used the occasion to advocate for stronger military influence in politics, claiming that “they say war is too serious to be left to the Generals, but politics is also too serious to be left to the politicians.”
He closed with Bollywood-style imagery: “Kisi ki maa kaali ho sakti hai, aur kisi ki dharti-maa kaali ho sakti hai, par maa maa hoti hai [someone’s mother might be dark-skinned, and the earth of someone’s motherland might be dark, but a mother is a mother].”
He asserted that Pakistan, like Medina before it, was founded on the Kalimah and destined to be blessed with divine bounty—an ideological flourish that merged religious symbolism with nationalist pride.
His warning echoes Munir’s broader communications strategy, which harnesses religious and militaristic messaging to frame Pakistan’s posture toward India.
This stark nuclear sabre-rattling on American soil comes months after his military sought peace in the wake of Operation Sindoor, India’s military response to a terrorist strike on Hindu tourists in Pahalgam, Kashmir on April 22, and a day after Indian Air Chief Marshal A P Singh said the Indian Air Force (IAF) took down “at least” five Pakistani fighter jets and “one large aircraft” during Operation Sindoor in May.
Munir’s nuclear warning also fits a familiar pattern of Pakistani military leaders invoking Kashmir to divert attention from domestic turmoil.
Perhaps emboldened by his lunch with US President Donald Trump during his earlier trip to Washington in June –and the subsequent description of Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in counterterrorism efforts by General Kurilla during a congressional hearing, where he also praised Pakistan’s role “in promoting peace and stability” in the region — Munir has been playing the jihadi jukebox, recycling rhetoric about “unfinished agendas” in Kashmir while the country reels from economic collapse, political instability, and rising insurgency in Balochistan.
The timing of Munir’s remarks in the US is particularly notable, as Islamabad continues to seek financial bailouts from global lenders and military aid from Washington. Analysts say such nuclear brinkmanship may be aimed at keeping Pakistan relevant in Western security calculations, even as its credibility erodes in the face of repeated military setbacks.
India has yet to respond officially to Munir’s latest statement. However, New Delhi has made it clear post post Pahalgam that it would no longer submit to nuclear blackmail, that Kashmir is an internal matter, and that any attempt to alter the status quo through force will be met with decisive retaliation.
