Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday said that in the event of any future conflict with India, Pakistan would be prepared to strike deep into Indian territory, mentioning Kolkata as an example. Speaking to reporters in his hometown of Sialkot, he alleged that India might attempt a false flag operation to blame Pakistan, and cautioned that such a move would trigger a strong response.
He said, “If India tries to stage any false flag operation this time, then God-willingly, we will take it to Kolkata.”
Asif further claimed that such an operation could involve using either Indian personnel or Pakistanis in detention, suggesting a scenario where casualties are presented as terrorists to justify accusations. However, he did not offer any evidence to support these allegations.
Earlier in the week, he had stated that Pakistan’s response to any attack would be “swift, calibrated, and decisive.”
His remarks came after India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh warned that any “misadventure” by Pakistan under the current circumstances would result in an “unprecedented and decisive” response.
These exchanges follow tensions stemming from the Pahalgam attack on April 22 last year, which led to a four-day conflict between the two countries. Reflecting on that episode, Asif said, “The kind of insult they faced around a year ago […] the entire world, in fact, their own public, taunts them that they are five times larger than Pakistan in every aspect—population, resources, military, airforce,” he added.
He also asserted that India’s leadership would continue to face such criticism “till the end of the world.”
Addressing international matters, Asif pointed to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and expressed optimism about Pakistan’s diplomatic role. He said that Pakistan is actively involved in facilitating dialogue between the United States and Iran, adding, “Pakistan is playing an important role in the ongoing US-Iran negotiations.”
He emphasized that Pakistan’s objective is to encourage regional stability and expressed hope that these discussions would eventually help resolve ongoing disputes.
In a post on X directed at Singh, Asif wrote, “Repeated rhetoric reflects not strength, but visible strategic anxiety as the anniversary of the staged false-flag operation in Pahalgam approaches—an episode that failed to withstand international scrutiny and exposed New Delhi’s reliance on manufactured crises,” Asif had said in a post on X, while tagging Singh.
