MEA: Pak Army chief’s remarks reinforce concerns about nukes

Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir's fresh nuclear threats against India reinforce doubts about the integrity of nuclear command and control ina country where the “military is hand-in-glove with terrorist groups”, the external affairs ministry said on Monday while reiterating that New Delhi won't give in to nuclear blackmail.

- HT Correspondent

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said it was “regrettable” that Munir made the remarks while in a friendly country such as the US, adding that “nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan's stock-in-trade”.

Munir, elevated to the rank of field marshal after four days of hostilities with India in May, reportedly said at a meeting with the Pakistani diaspora in Florida that Pakistan could use its nuclear ‘weapons to take down India and “half the world” in the event ofan existential threat in any future conflict with India.

He reportedly said Pakistan can use its missiles to destroy any dams built by India on cross-border rivers after the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.

“The international community can draw its own conclusions on the irresponsibility inherent in such remarks, which also reinforce the well-held doubts about the integrity of nuclear command and control in a state where the military is hand-in-glove with terrorist groups,” Jaiswal said in a statement.

“Itis also regrettable that these remarks should have been made from the soil of a friendly third country,” Jaiswal said. “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