Says Islamabad believes in coexistence, dialogue; The May conflict demonstrated the professionalism of the military
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has categorically rejected and condemned “the highly inflammatory, baseless and irresponsible comments” recently made by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar about the Pakistani armed forces.
In a press release issued on Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan is a responsible state and all its institutions, including the armed forces, are a pillar of national security, dedicated to protecting the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The FO spokesman was responding to Jaishankar, who, while addressing a summit in New Delhi on December 6, said that most of India’s problems with Pakistan stemmed from its military establishment, which he claimed had cultivated and maintained a deep-rooted enmity against India.
“When you look at terrorism, when you look at the training camps, when you look at the kind of politics of almost ideological hostility towards India – where does it come from? It comes from [Pakistan] army,” the Indian minister said.
His remarks came months after Pakistan and India engaged in a brief but intense military confrontation in which the nuclear-armed neighbors exchanged artillery and missile fire and deployed drones and fighter jets.
The four-day confrontation started after India launched missile strikes inside Pakistan on May 7 in what it claimed was retaliation for a militant attack on tourists in the Pahalgam area of held Kashmir on April 22.
On 10 May, Pakistan carried out a series of attacks on various military sites inside India. New Delhi agreed to a ceasefire the same day following intervention by the United States. During the confrontation, Pakistan shot down seven Indian fighter jets, including Rafale aircraft.
The FO spokesman said that the May conflict clearly demonstrated the professionalism of the Pakistan Armed Forces as well as their determination to defend the motherland and the people of Pakistan against any Indian aggression in an appropriate, effective and yet responsible manner. No amount of propaganda can contradict this truth.
Andrabi said the Indian leaders’ attempts to smear Pakistan’s state institutions and its leadership were part of a propaganda campaign designed to divert attention from India’s destabilizing actions in the region and beyond, as well as state-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan.
“Such fiery rhetoric only exemplifies the extent of India’s disregard for friendship, peace and stability in our region,” the spokesperson added.
He said that instead of making misleading remarks about the Pakistan Armed Forces, India must investigate the fascist and revisionist Hindutva ideology that had unleashed a reign of mob justice, lynchings, arbitrary detentions and demolition of properties and places of worship.
“The Indian state and leadership have both become hostages to this terror in the name of religion. Pakistan believes in coexistence, dialogue and diplomacy. However, the country stands united and resolute in its intent and ability to protect its interests and sovereignty,” he added.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947. They have also engaged in countless border skirmishes and major military battles, including the 1999 Kargil conflict.
The four-day conflict in May 2025 ended with a US-brokered ceasefire after Washington said both sides had expressed willingness to continue dialogue.
Pakistan said it was prepared to discuss all outstanding issues, but India rejected negotiations and unilaterally suspended the Indus-Waters Treaty, a 1960 water-sharing agreement brokered by the World Bank that allocated three eastern rivers to India and three western rivers to Pakistan.
