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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday reacted sharply to the Indian army chief’s recent provocative remarks, terming them a direct threat to peace and stability in South Asia.
The Pakistani military also cautioned New Delhi against pushing South Asia towards another conflict with “devastating” consequences for the region.
“[The] Indian COAS gave a provocative statement during a recent interview that ‘Pakistan should decide if it desired to be part of geography and history’,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) noted in a statement, issued in response to Indian army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi’s comments made on Saturday.
The statement from the Indian army chief came days after the first anniversary of Marka-i-Haq, with several sides already calling on New Delhi to resume dialogue with Pakistan. Leaders in India-held Kashmir were among the latest to support efforts to end hostilities between the neighbouring nuclear powers, while RSS Secretary General Dattatreya Hosabale was among the first to push for such engagement.
“Contrary to the delusional and hallucinational belief system and despite the omnipresent ill wishes that prevail in Hindutva-led India, Pakistan is already a country of consequence at global level, a declared nuclear power and an indelible part of South Asia’s geography and history,” the ISPR said.
It observed that the statement reflected that the “Indian leadership has neither been able to reconcile with the very idea of Pakistan nor it has learnt the right lessons, even after [the] passage of eight decades”.
“This hubristic, jingoistic and myopic mindset has repeatedly pushed South Asia towards wars and crises,” it highlighted.
“Threatening a sovereign nuclear neighbour with elimination from ‘geography’ is not strategic signalling or brinkmanship; it is sheer bankruptcy of cognitive capacities, madness and warmongering despite knowing the reality that such geographic obliteration would certainly be mutual and comprehensive,” the ISPR warned.
It stressed that “responsible nuclear states reflect restraint, maturity, and strategic sobriety”, rather than speaking the “language of civilisational supremacy or national erasure”.
The ISPR advised the Indian leadership “not to attempt to push South Asia towards another crisis or war whose consequences would only be devastating for the complete region and beyond”.
“India needs to reconcile with Pakistan’s salience and learn to peacefully co-exist with it. Otherwise, any attempt to target Pakistan can trigger consequences that shall be neither geographically confined nor strategically or politically palatable for India,” the military further warned.
The ISPR highlighted that the “Indian narrative conveniently ignores India’s own historically documented record of being a harbinger of terrorism in the region, a state sponsor of terrorism, key source of regional instability, practitioner of transnational assassinations and a hotbed of disinformation campaigns across the globe”.
“Delhi’s aggressive posturing stems less from confidence and more from frustration at its inability to harm Pakistan, which has been brutally exposed during Marka-i-Haq,” it added, referring to last year’s military escalation between the two neighbours.
‘Threat to regional peace’
PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman also strongly condemned the Indian army chief’s “hostile remarks” against Pakistan, warning that such statements posed a serious threat to regional peace and stability.
In a statement, Ms Rehman said Pakistan’s consistent diplomatic, political and defence achievements on the global stage had left India increasingly “frustrated and unsettled”.
She said that the international community now acknowledged Pakistan as a responsible, dignified and significant nuclear power.
The PPP leader said that major world powers were actively engaging with Pakistan on matters relating to regional peace, conflict resolution and diplomatic progress.
Criticising India’s “war-driven mindset”, she said that New Delhi often initiated aggressive actions and later turned to the international community for de-escalation.
Ms Rehman said voices advocating peace and dialogue were also emerging from within India, including former military officials, circles linked to the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and groups from held Kashmir.
She said that the Indian public was already facing inflation and economic hardship amid the impact of ongoing global conflicts.
Bakhtawar Mian also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2026
