Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff, has rejected India’s claims of Pakistan getting Chinese assistance during the recent armed conflict, saying that naming other states as participants in the “purely bilateral military conflagration is a shoddy attempt at playing camp politics”.
Addressing the graduating officers of the National Security and War Course at the National Defence University (NDU), the COAS said India remains the beneficiary of larger geopolitical contestation as the so-called net security provider in a region.
The field marshall noted that India’s inability to achieve its stated military objectives during Operation Sindoor — and the subsequent attempt to rationalize this shortfall through convoluted logic — speaks volumes about its lack of operational readiness and strategic foresight”.
“Insinuations regarding external support in Pakistan’s successful Operation Bunyan-um-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 added.
Highlighting India’s strategic behaviour resting on parochial self-alignment, the COAS stressed that Pakistan has forged lasting partnerships based on principled diplomacy, anchored in mutual respect and peace, establishing itself to be a stabilizer in the region.
He also retierated Islamabad’s “principled stance that any misadventure or attempts to undermine Pakistan’s sovereignty or violation of territorial integrity will 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 army chief warned, adding: “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”.
The army chief further remarked that 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.
Furthermore, highlighting the evolving character of warfare, he underscored the centrality of mental preparedness, operational clarity, and institutional professionalism in navigating complex strategic issues and lauded lauded the role of premier institutions like NDU in enhancing civil-military synergy and nurturing future leadership capable of mitigating hybrid, conventional, and sub-conventional threats with poise and resolve.
Urging the graduating officers to remain steadfast in the values of integrity, selfless service, and unwavering commitment to the nation, Field Marshal Munir expressed full confidence in the professionalism, morale, and readiness of the country’s battle hardened armed forces.
