COAS warns of crippling response to aggression

Express Tribune

4 days ago

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir on Monday issued a stern warning, stating that any misadventure or violation of Pakistan's territorial integrity by an aggressor would be met with a "deeply hurting and more than reciprocal response" – delivered without constraints or hesitation.
Addressing the graduating officers at the National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad, the army chief said that India's allegations of external support to Pakistan during the Operation Bunyanum Marsoos reflected Delhi's chronic reluctance to acknowledge Pakistan's indigenous capability.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military, Field Marshal Asim Munir visited the NDU, where he addressed the graduating officers of the National Security and War Course, comprising participants from all services.
In his address, the army chief highlighted the evolving character of warfare and underscored the centrality of mental preparedness, operational clarity, and institutional professionalism in navigating complex strategic issues.
He reiterated Pakistan's principled stance that any misadventure or attempts to undermine Pakistan's sovereignty or violation of territorial integrity would "continue to be reflexively met with a swift, and resolute" response without any constraints or inhibitions.
"Any attempt to target our population centres, military bases, economic hubs and ports will instantly invoke a 'deeply hurting and more than reciprocal response'. The onus of escalation will squarely lie on the strategically blind arrogant aggressor, who fails to see the grave repercussions of such provocative actions against a sovereign nuclear state," he declared.
Field Marshal Asim noted that India's inability to achieve its stated military objectives during its Operation Sindoor and the subsequent attempt to rationalise its shortfall through convoluted logic spoke volumes about its lack of operational readiness and strategic foresight.
"Insinuations regarding external support in Pakistan's successful Operation Bunyanum Marsoos are irresponsible and factually incorrect and reflect a chronic reluctance to acknowledge indigenous capability and institutional resilience developed over decades of strategic prudence," he said.
Operation Bunyanum Marsoos refers to Pakistan's thunderous military response on May 10 to India's Operation Sindoor that began with missile strikes in Pakistan on May 7, killing dozens of civilians, including women and children. Operation Bunyanum Marsoos hit India's 26 military targets.
Last week, the deputy chief of the Indian army alleged that China gave Pakistan "live inputs" on key Indian positions during the four-day conflict. Lt-General Rahul Singh, however, did not elaborate how he received that information.
Field Marshal Asim said that naming other states as participants in the "purely bilateral military conflagration was also a shoddy attempt at playing camp politics" and desperately trying that India remained the beneficiary of larger geopolitical contestation as the so-called net security provider in a region getting increasingly weary of its hegemonic and extremist Hindutva ideology.
"In contrast to India's strategic behaviour resting on parochial self-alignment, Pakistan has forged lasting partnerships based on principled diplomacy, anchored in mutual respect and peace, establishing itself to be a stabiliser in the region," he added, according to the ISPR.
"Wars are not won through media rhetoric, imported fancy hardware, or political sloganeering, but through faith, professional competence, operational clarity, institutional strength and national resolve," the army chief remarked.
In the address, the army chief lauded the role of the premier institutions such as the NDU in enhancing civil-military synergy and nurturing future leadership capable of mitigating hybrid, conventional, and sub-conventional threats with poise and resolve.
He concluded by expressing full confidence in the professionalism, morale, and readiness of the battle-hardened Armed Forces of Pakistan and urged the graduating officers to remain steadfast in the values of integrity, selfless service, and unwavering commitment to the nation.