COAS says India deliberately fuelling tensions in region

KARACHI: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir Saturday said that Pakistan is nearing success in its war against terrorism, while India is deliberately fueling tensions in the region.

Addressing Pakistan Naval Academy’s passing out ceremony, the COAS castigated India for undertaking acts of unprovoked aggression against Pakistan, saying the assumption that the country would show re-straint in the face of future violations of its sovereignty “is a dangerous misreading of its strategic funda-mentals”.

“As we steadily, but surely, build our comprehensive national power, any enemy acting on the perceived vulnerability of Pakistan under the illusion of strategic impunity or miscalculation, would get a swift and a very befitting response,” he said.

The army chief noted that India tends to exploit so-called strategic relevance, hubristic mindset, and military capacitation for adventurism aimed at political gains.

“In recent years, under the pretext of counterterrorism, India’s political leadership — marked by a troubling absence of strategic foresight — has twice undertaken acts of unprovoked aggression against Pakistan,” he said, while referring to Indian aggressions after 2019 Palwama attack and the recent Pahalgam attack.

On both occasions, he said, India’s recklessness was met with Pakistan’s resolute response, which not only preserved national honour but also averted a dangerous, broader regional escalation.

“Pakist