New Delhi: A senior politician and close aide to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif admitted that Pakistani military had just “30 to 45 seconds” to determine whether a BrahMos missile, launched by India during Operation Sindoor in May, carried a nuclear warhead.
Rana Sanaullah, special assistant to PM Sharif, said in a recent interview that the BrahMos cruise missile left Pakistan’s defence apparatus scrambling as the risk of a nuclear war between the neighbours weighed heavily.
“When India fired BrahMos at Nur Khan airbase, Pakistan’s military had only 30-45 seconds to analyse whether the incoming missile may have a nuclear warhead. To decide anything on this in just 30 seconds was a dangerous situation,” Sanaullah told a Pakistani news channel.
Nur Khan is a major airbase of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), located in Rawalpindi’s Chaklala.
“I am not saying that they did good by not using a nuclear warhead, but at the same time the people on this side could have misunderstood it also, leading to the launch of the first nuclear weapon that could spark a global nuclear war,” he added.
A full-fledged conflict broke out after India targeted multiple terror hubs in Pakistan and PoK to avenge the deadly April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
After India destroyed nine leading terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, our neighbours launched drones and missiles at several towns and cities in border states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and Gujarat.
India hit back strongly and struck multiple air bases in Pakistan. Satellite images showed extensive damage in Sargodha, Nur Khan, Bholari, Jacobabad, Sukkur and Rahim Yar Khan.
Sanaullah credited US President Donald Trump’s role in bringing about a ceasefire deal between India and Pakistan following four days of cross-border firing from May 7 to 10.
“There could have been an atomic war. In this situation, if US President Donald Trump played a role and saved the world from disaster, then that role must be independently evaluated and so that role must be appreciated. And that’s why PM Shehbaz Sharif has nominated him (for Nobel Peace Prize),” Sanaullah said.
While Trump has claimed to stop a ‘nuclear war’ between India and Pakistan countless number of times in the days and weeks after the ceasefire, India has repeatedly denied the US President’s involvement in the halting of all military action.
Last month, Pakistan’s deputy PM Ishaq Dar admitted that India attacked two important airbases in Pakistan. That was after several denials by the Pakistani government and military about the extent of the damage caused by India’s strikes.
