KARACHI: The country’s top general has stressed the need to move towards conflict resolution instead of management, warning that its absence could result in a destructive escalation, Dawn.com reported.

Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza’s remarks follow last month’s military confrontation, instigated by India, which launched air strikes in Pakistan, killing civilians.

The attack was launched after a deadly attack in Pahalgam area of India-held Kashmir, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad denied the allegations, and after tit-for-tat strikes, the two countries finally reached a ceasefire on May 10.

Gen Mirza, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), said it was imperative to move beyond conflict management towards conflict resolution.

Gen Mirza says India’s emboldening as ‘net security provider’ by the West means it has little incentive to engage in conflict reduction

“This will ensure sustainable peace and an assured crisis management,” he said while addressing a panel discussion titled ‘Regional Crisis-Management Mechanisms’ at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2025 in Singapore.

The CJCSC cautioned that given the Indian policies and “polities’ extremist mindset”, the absence of a crisis management mechanism may not give enough time to the global powers to intervene and affect cessation of hostilities. “They will probably be too late to avoid damage and destruction.”

There was a possibility during a future conflict that by the time the international community intervenes, “the damage and destruction may have already taken place”.

During his address, Gen Mirza also highlighted the Kashmir dispute and the recent military clash between Pakistan and India.

He called for an “early resolution of Kashmir [dispute] in line with the UN Security Council resolutions and as per the aspirations of the people is essential” for an enduring peace in South Asia.

“When there is no crisis, Kashmir is never discussed, and as we always say that it is the Kashmir dispute resolution in line with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir and in line with the UNSC resolutions that will address many issues.”

Low threshold

Gen Mirza said the recent Pak-India escalation had underscored “how regional crisis management frameworks remain hostage to countries’ belligerence”, noting that the only line of contact between the two countries was the director general military operations hotline.

The top general further said that following the military conflict, the “threshold of an escalatory war has come dangerously low, implying greater risk on both sides, not just in the disputed territory but all of India and all of Pakistan”.

“The threshold of what we say conventional warfare has significantly degraded.”

Gen Mirza pointed out that the 1965 and 1971 wars with India were “always confined to the disputed territory”.

“[However,] this time, it has transcended that and come to the international border.”

Speaking on crisis management in Asia-Pacific, CJCSC Mirza termed it the “geopolitical cockpit of the 21st century”. “Its trajectories will shape the security architecture not only for this region but for the world.”

Gen Mirza further pointed out that the Asia-Pacific direly needed an “institutional security architecture organic to the region itself”, which was missing as it had “largely been guided by extra-regional powers”.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2025