Pakistan's nuclear-command chief rejects Rajnath Singh's 'stronger response' threat

Pakistan’s top strategic commander warned on Saturday that any miscalculation by India’s adversaries would be met with a response “far beyond the imagination or the calculation of the initiator”, answering Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s threat of a “stronger response” to any future attack originating from Pakistan.

“To those who harbour hostile designs across our borders, our stance remains resolute and unambiguous. There is no space for conflict or war in a nuclearised environment,” General Aamer Raza, Commander of the National Strategic Command, told cadets at the passing-out parade of the 154th Long Course at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, according to Dawn and The Tribune.

Raza, who heads the command overseeing Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, said the armed forces stood ready to “defend every inch of the motherland” at all costs, and warned against a “post-truth era” of “calculated disinformation and narrative warfare”. Dawn reported that he accused adversaries of seeking to fracture Pakistan’s social cohesion through proxy terrorism and sub-conventional warfare after the failure of Operation Sindoor.

His remarks came a day after Pakistan’s Foreign Office condemned Singh’s comments as “provocative” and “reckless”. Speaking at a defence conclave in New Delhi on Thursday, Singh said any future terrorist act originating from Pakistan would draw an even “stronger response”, citing a decisive shift in doctrine built on Operation Sindoor, the Balakot airstrikes and surgical strikes, according to The Tribune.

FO spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said on Friday that “Pakistan rejects and condemns the Indian defence minister’s provocative remarks”, warning that any aggression would be met with a forceful response.