A day after Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh caused a flutter by declaring that his force had downed at least six Pakistani fighter jets during Operation Sindoor, Pakistan’s top military general unleashed a fresh wave of nuclear brinkmanship—this time from American soil.
Field Marshal Asim Munir, speaking at a private dinner in Florida, threatened to “destroy” any dam India might build on the Indus river and warned that Pakistan, as a nuclear nation, would “take half the world down” if pushed to the brink.
“We are a nuclear nation; if we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us,” Field Marshal Munir said during his second visit to the United States in the past two months. On June 18, US president Donald Trump had hosted Field Marshal Munir for a special luncheon at the White House, a gesture typically reserved for heads of state.
“We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, phir 10 missile sey faarigh kar dengey (we will destroy it with 10 missiles),” Field Marshal Munir said, asserting that the Indus river was not Indians’ family property. “We have no shortage of resources to undo Indian designs to stop the river,” he told the gathering of Pakistani expatriates.
Amidst troubled India-US relations over trade tariffs, observers say it’s condemnable that Washington had provided a platform to Pakistan’s military leader to make provocative and inflammatory statements against India. Moreover, Field Marshal Munir’s decision to issue threats from American soil not only amplifies his rhetoric but also risks deepening strains in already uneasy Washington-New Delhi ties, frayed by divergent views on regional security.
The Trump administration’s silence has fuelled speculation that Washington may be recalibrating its South Asia tilt towards Pakistan, driven by shifting geopolitical priorities and the strategic demands of its stand-off with Iran.
Reacting sharply to Field Marshal Munir’s comment, India called it “nuclear sabre-rattling” that was essentially Pakistan’s “stock-in-trade”. The ministry of external affairs said such remarks underscored doubts about the integrity of Pakistan’s nuclear command and control, particularly in a situation wherein the military was “hand-in-glove with terrorist groups”.
The ministry termed it “regrettable” that the comments had been made from the soil of a friendly third country. “India has already made it clear that it will not give in to nuclear blackmail. We will continue to take all steps necessary to safeguard our national security,” the ministry’s statement read.
It is notable that Pakistan is increasing its nuclear arsenal, believed to be with China’s assistance. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a leading defence and armaments think-tank, Pakistan is a strong nuclear power, having an estimated 170 warheads, as per its latest assessment. In comparison, India has 180 nuclear stored warheads as of January 2025.
Field Marshal Munir was in Florida to attend a retirement function for General Michael Kurilla, the outgoing commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM). Kurilla had, sometime back, praised Islamabad’s role in combating the ISIS-Khorasan and credited Pakistan’s military leadership, particularly army chief Munir, with efforts to disrupt ISIS-K operations in the region.
The US military divides the world into various regions of operations for its engagement. Pakistan comes under Centcom, as part of the US’s focus on Iran and Afghanistan. India comes under the Indo-Pacific command that is purely focused on China.
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