New Delhi: Its strategic Rahim Yar Khan air base, near Rawalpindi, continues to remain shut for repairs, nearly three months after it was struck by Indian missiles on May 10; but that hasn’t stopped Pakistan from engaging in yet another round of sabre-rattling.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has been quoted by The Economist as saying that his country will strike ‘deeper within India’ and “start from the east” if any military action along the lines of Operation Sindoor is undertaken in the future.
Lt Gen Chaudhry, son of Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood – a close ‘buddy’ of Osama Bin Laden – seems to have forgotten that it was Pakistan’s director general of military operations (DGMO) who called his Indian counterpart on May 10, seeking cessation of operations after India struck several Pakistan Air Force bases and air defence systems with high-precision missile strikes.
When asked how Pakistan would respond to any future Indian military action, given Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that terror attacks would be met with decisive force, Chaudhry added, “They also need to understand that they can be hit everywhere.”
The only thing about Chaudhry’s statement that India has found disconcerting is his mention about the east. Does this mean that Pakistan has made sufficient in-roads into turmoil-hit Bangladesh to carry out military strikes from that country?
“If that isn’t the case, no Pakistani missile can cover the distance to the eastern part of India and not get intercepted. Pakistan has already got a taste of India’s robust air defence systems. This is either wishful thinking on his part, or he has let the cat out of the bag by indicating that Pakistan is building up military capabilities along India’s eastern border. The only possibility is Bangladesh and we are keeping watch,” an official in Delhi said.
It is well known that Bangladesh, under Muhammad Yunus, has cosied up to both China and Pakistan over the last year since the overthrow of the democratically-elected government of Sk Hasina. Some of Yunus’ close sides have even spoken out aloud about greater military ties with Pakistan to break India’s hegemony in the region.
Chaudhry also told The Economist that Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir harbours no political ambitions and denied that the latter’s ideological bent is more stark than that of his predecessors.
Munir’s speech on April 16, less than a week before the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 that left 26 persons dead, was also defended by Chaudhry.
In that speech, Munir had revived the ‘two-nation theory’ and called Kashmir the “jugular vein” of Pakistan. “We are two nations, not one,” he declared. “Our forefathers thought we are different from Hindus in every possible aspect of life. Our religion, customs, traditions, thoughts and ambitions.”
He had added that “no power in the world” could separate Kashmir from Pakistan.
Chaudhry claimed that Munir’s controversial speech reflected his personal beliefs. “He was saying what he stands for, what he is ready to die for,” the ISPR chief claimed.
He then contradicted himself by denying that Munir is more ideological than his predecessors and harbours political ambitions. Chaudhry dismissed discussions on Munir’s political ambitions as ‘nonsense’ and described him as someone “well-versed with the West” and “resolutely opposed” to jihadist groups operating within Pakistan.
