Continuing his anti-India tirade describing Kashmir as Pakistan's "jugular vein", Munir stated that the issue is not India's internal matter but an unresolved international issue
Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir. File pic
Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir asserted that Islamabad will defend its water rights "at all costs" if India proceeds with dam construction on the Indus River, reported ANI. Munir made the statement during his ongoing visit to the United States.
Continuing his anti-India tirade describing Kashmir as Pakistan's "jugular vein", Munir stated that the issue is not India's internal matter but an unresolved international issue, Pakistan-based media outlet ARY News reported on Monday.
"We will wait for India to build a dam, and when they do so, we will destroy it," Munir told members of the Pakistani-American community in Tampa, Florida, according to a report published today in The Dawn.
At the black-tie dinner in Washington, DC, hosted by Adnan Asad, Pakistan's honorary consul in Tampa, Munir told the gathering that the Indus River "is not the Indians' family property," adding that Islamabad has "no shortage of resources to undo the Indian designs to stop the river," the Dawn reported.
ARY news further cited the Pakistan Army Chief as condemning "Indian aggression under Operation Sindoor," and termed it a grave violation of the sovereignty of his country.
Munir was also quoted by ARY News as saying that "a bilateral conflict due to any mistake by India would be a huge blunder." He said Pakistan's response had successfully prevented a wider conflict.
The Pakistan Army Chief also thanked US President Donald Trump for his role in defusing tensions between the two countries, reported ANI.
India has consistently maintained that the May 10 ceasefire, following India’s anti-terror response during Operation Sindoor, was achieved through talks between the Indian and Pakistani militaries and not through US mediation.
Ahead of the Pahalgam attack, India had strongly rebutted the remarks made by Munir – then a general – describing Kashmir as Pakistan's "jugular vein." Calling the claim baseless, New Delhi had asserted that the only relationship Pakistan has with Kashmir is to vacate the territory it occupies illegally.
Responding to questions at a media briefing on April 17 in New Delhi, India's Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that Jammu and Kashmir is a Union Territory of India and dismissed Munir's comments as unfounded. Jaiswal questioned how "anything foreign" could be in a country's jugular vein and reiterated that Islamabad’s role with respect to Kashmir is limited to vacating the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
"How can anything foreign be in a jugular vein? This is a union territory of India. Its only relationship with Pakistan is the vacation of illegally occupied territories by that country..." Jaiswal had said in the MEA briefing on April 17, five days before Pakistan carried out the terror attack in Pahalgam, leading to the deaths of 25 tourists and one local.
During his visit, Munir went to two cities over the weekend and flew to Brussels on Sunday after completing his second high-profile trip in less than two months. Like his previous visit, he engaged with political and military leadership in the host country, Dawn reported.
On the sidelines of the ceremony, Field Marshal Munir met US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine and chiefs of defence from other friendly countries. He invited General Caine to visit Pakistan and reaffirmed Islamabad's role as a key regional security stakeholder, Dawn reported.
(With ANI inputs)
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