'Nuclear sabre-rattling': India responds to Asim Munir's remarks in US

"We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us," Asim Munir reportedly said during his US visit.

India on Monday reacted sharply to reported remarks made by the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff during a visit to the United States, calling them an example of Pakistan’s “nuclear sabre-rattling.”

Asim Munir is currently in the US.(AP)

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said such remarks underscored doubts about the integrity of Pakistan’s nuclear command and control, particularly in a state where the military is “hand-in-glove with terrorist groups.” The ministry termed it “regrettable” that the comments were made from the soil of a friendly third country.

Reiterating India’s position, the MEA said the country will not give in to nuclear blackmail and will take all steps necessary to safeguard national security.

India's full statement

Our attention has been drawn to remarks reportedly made by the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff while on a visit to the United States.

Nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan’s stock-in-trade.

The international community can draw its own conclusions on the irresponsibility inherent in such remarks, which also reinforce the well-held doubts about the integrity of nuclear command and control in a state where the military is hand-in-glove with terrorist groups.

In an address to the Pakistani diaspora in Florida's Tampa, Munir reportedly made the nuclear threat in case his country faced an existential threat in a future war with India.

"We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us," media reports quoted him as saying.

The Pakistan Army Chief's comments are part of a pattern in Pakistan as whenever the US supports the Pakistan military, they always show their true colours of aggression, the sources said.

It is a symptom that democracy does not exist in Pakistan and it is their military which controls the country, they said.

"Emboldened by reception and welcome by the US, the next step could possibly be a silent or open coup in Pakistan so that the Field Marshal becomes the President," said a source.