Hollow Rhetoric?

Once again, Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of Pakistan, came into sharp focus when he opened his mouth and made acerbic comments against India. Munir was speaking in Tampa, Florida (August 9), while attending the farewell function of outgoing Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander, General Michael E Kurilla. It is also interesting to note that Kurilla was in Pakistan recently and was conferred the title of Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military), a high-level decoration bestowed only on exceptional dignitaries. This honour, most extraordinary, indicates that Pakistan continues to flatter the US at the risk of incurring the wrath of China amid the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape. This was Munir’s second US trip in less than two months, which also shows a clear US reciprocity to the COAS’s overtures to further befriend Washington. On his first visit, he even had a luncheon meeting with Trump, prompting him to recommend a Nobel Prize for the US President.

Later, at a Pakistani diaspora event, Munir was conspicuous for his outburst against India, reminiscent of his most provocative speech at Islamabad on April 16, which sought to incite hatred between two religions and carried clear communal overtones. This time, his tenor was more threatening, aggressive, and openly belligerent. Most significantly, but not surprisingly, Munir, Pakistan’s military chief, threatened to plunge the region into nuclear war should his country face an existential threat in a future war with India, saying: “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us.” These extraordinary remarks—the first nuclear threats known to have ever been delivered from the soil of the United States against a third country—were made at a black-tie dinner hosted for Munir by businessman Adnan Asad, the honorary consul for Pakistan in Tampa. Munir’s threatening remarks on the nuclear issue must be condemned by all pacifists, or else he will feel emboldened to continue delivering such statements. The UN Secretary-General should caution him in the larger interest of peace.

Further, the Field Marshal followed up his nuclear threat with remarks on the Indus Waters Treaty, saying India’s decision to place it in abeyance could put 250 million at risk of starvation. “We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, we would destroy it with missiles,” he warned. He also said that the Indus River was not the “family property” of Indians and that Pakistan was not deficient in missiles.

An estimated 120 Florida-based members of the Pakistani diaspora were served a Western-style dinner at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Tampa, featuring an exotic menu. The function began with a recitation of As-Saf verse 4 from the Quran, which asserts that “Allah loves those who fight in His cause in a row as though they are a [single] structure joined firmly.” Pakistan even named its operations during the four-day war of May Bunyaanum Marsoos. Following the Quranic recitation, Pakistan’s national anthem was played. Thus, we can see traces of religion at a social event.

Interestingly, Munir visibly mocked India’s refusal to provide specific details of its losses during the Four-Day War and Operation Sindoor. “The Indians should accept their losses,” Munir said, adding, “Sportsman spirit is a virtue.” He also stated that he had offered to make an inventory of Pakistan’s losses public, provided India conducted a similar exercise. In a threatening vein, he further averred that he would start from India’s East, where its most valuable resources are located, and then move westwards. Munir, a religious radical and the first chief of the Pakistan Army to have a Madrassa education, has frequently used theological points to support his arguments. Using a crude analogy to explain the situation, Munir said: “India is a shining Mercedes coming on a highway like a Ferrari, but we are a dump truck full of gravel. If the truck hits the car, who is going to be the loser?” Such tenor spews venom and hatred of the worst kind, which has become the hallmark of Munir’s utterances that are now turning routine.

Asim Munir also took the opportunity to make the case for military involvement in Pakistani politics and strategy-linked decision-making, directing many of his comments personally to Pakistan’s former Ports and Shipping Minister Babar Khan Ghauri, who had served under Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. “They say war is too serious to be left to the generals, but politics is also too serious to be left to the politicians.” This statement is significant and cannot be ignored. Munir also referred to India’s recent “diplomatic tensions” with the United States and joked that Pakistan should begin offering masterclasses on balancing rival powers. “The real reason for our success is that we are not misers,” he said. “If someone does good work, we praise and appreciate them. That is why we nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Prize.” Surely, Munir, with a swollen head, is reeling under a false sense of superiority that needs to be punctured at the earliest.

Similar outbursts, indicating signs of military jingoism, were also the hallmark of Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, Ugandan despot Idi Amin, and military dictator-cum-President Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan, whose ends remain part of bloody history. One hopes Munir takes a leaf from these tragic books and adopts corrective measures toward a more civil approach in place of his self-generated threats. Such aggressive, provocative, and uncalled-for menacing statements have never worked for dictators anywhere in the world. While Munir has marginalized the civilian government in Pakistan, reducing it to a puppet regime with the Army ruling the roost, it remains vital to prevent any escalation of further military tension in the region. For this, such irksome rhetoric is best avoided.

The writer is a retired IPS officer, Adviser NatStrat, and a former National Security Advisor in Mauritius. Views expressed are personal