Did Pak-India, Just Exchange Nuclear Threats?

ISLAMABAD: Are Pakistan and India threatening each other with nuclear strikes as their respective military and political leaders exchange threatening statements? You don’t use threats and terms such as “wipe Pakistan off the map” or “catastrophic destruction” while simply threatening the other side with conventional military capability.
It was Indian Army chief who said Pakistan must stop supporting terror if it wanted to retain a place on the world map. And it was Pakistan’s military’s media wing statement which warned that any future conflict between the countries would inflict catastrophic destruction on both sides.
Both Pakistan and India possess substantial conventional military capabilities but conventional military capability are not used to wipe your opponent off the map of the world or threatening your enemy with catastrophic destruction.
On the other hand, with the help of nuclear weapons, you can wipe your enemy off the map of the world or inflict catastrophic destruction.
Some would argue that both Pakistan and India do possess enough conventional military capabilities to inflict catastrophic destruction on the other side. But normally terms such as catastrophic destruction are used in relations to nuclear capability.
It all started when India’s army chief General Upendra Dwivedi, who told soldiers near the Pakistan border on Friday Islamabad must stop “backing terror” if it wanted to “remain on the world map.” Dwivedi said India would not show the restraint it exercised during a brief war with Pakistan in May this year, in which, according to the Indian army, nine facilities inside Pakistan were hit and more than 100 Pakistani soldiers and militants killed.
Pakistan and India engaged in a military conflict between May 7-10, 2025 when both the countries engaged in exchange of surface to surface or air to surface missile armed with conventional payload to inflict damage on other’s military bases. Pakistan shot down six Indian fighter jets during the May conflict, including the French-made Rafale. India has acknowledged some losses but denied losing six aircraft. Last week, the Indian air chief said India had downed five Pakistani fighter jets of the F-16 and JF-17 class during the intense May fighting. The conflict, the worst between the old foes in decades, was sparked by an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir in April, which New Delhi said was backed by Pakistan. Islamabad denied involvement in the Kashmir attack, which killed 26 men and was the worst assault on civilians in India since the Mumbai attacks in 2008.
The situation between the two countries have remained extremely tense at the political level since. However Indian Army chief’s statement raised the fear that India might againt engage in a military adventure against Pakistan.
“We have noted with grave concern the delusional, provocative and jingoistic statements coming from the highest levels of the Indian security establishment. These irresponsible statements indicate a renewed attempt at fabricating arbitrary pretexts for aggression – a prospect which might lead to serious consequences for peace and stability in South Asia.”
Pakistani military statement said that for decades, India has benefitted from *playing the victim card* and painting Pakistan in negative light, while *stoking violence* and *perpetrating terrorism* in South Asia and beyond. This narrative has been sufficiently debunked and now *the world recognises India as the true face of cross-border terrorism* and the *epi-centre of regional instability*.
It said that earlier this year, the Indian aggression against Pakistan brought two nuclear powers to the brink of a major war. However, India seems to have forgotten the *wreckage of its fighter jets* and the *wrath of Pakistan’s long range vectors*. Suffering from collective amnesia, India now seems to be *aching for the next round* of confrontation.

In the face of highly provocative statements of the Indian Defence Minister and its Army and Air Chiefs, we caution that a future conflict might lead to *cataclysmic devastation*. In case a fresh round of hostilities is triggered, Pakistan shall not hold back. We shall *resolutely respond, without any qualms or restraint*.

Those seeking to establish a new normal must know that Pakistan has established a new normal of response, which will be swift, decisive and destructive. In the face of unwarranted threats and reckless aggression, the people and the Armed Forces of Pakistan have the capability and resolve to *take the fight to every nook and corner of the enemy’s territory*. This time we shall shatter the myth of geographic immunity, hitting the farthest reaches of the Indian territory.

As for the talk of erasing Pakistan from the map, India must know that if situation comes, the erasure will be mutual.