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Bluffmaster Asim Munir says India begged for ceasefire and Trump intervention
Asim Munir told Pakistan diaspora on August 11 that he had no political ambitions but was guardian of the country.
Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir has landed in a soup after falsely boasting at a diaspora event in Belgium that India was “forced to beg for a ceasefire” during the recent India–Pakistan conflict and that US President Donald Trump had to step in to mediate.
The claims are in sharp contrast to the facts that Indian government presented after Operation Sindoor. The ceasefire between the two neighbours was achieved after DGMO-level talks and the United States did not mediate.
Fact is that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at 9.38 am on May 10 saying that Pakistanis were asking for a ceasefire. This was after India took down Nur Khan air base with BrahMos and SCALP missiles. After hearing Secretary Rubio, Jaishankar made it clear that ceasefire proposal had to come from Pak DGMO through established channel if Rawalpindi was serious about it.
Munir's remarks were made on August 11 at a closed-door felicitation organised by the Overseas Pakistani Foundation at Groot-Bijgarden Castle near Brussels which was attended by around 500 members of the Pakistani community from across Europe. Invitees were barred from carrying mobile phones or recording devices.
According to those present, Munir used his 40-minute address to falsely claim that Pakistan had given a “befitting reply” to India, shooting down “advanced Indian aircraft” and earning new global respect. He further alleged that India had long peddled false victimhood over terrorism while “discreetly supporting trans-border terror” in Pakistan, Canada and the US - charges New Delhi has consistently dismissed as baseless.
Munir said the international community “only respects power” and declared that India had no choice but to request a ceasefire, forcing Trump to intervene.
Munir's bluffs
This isn't the first time Munir has bluffed about the India-Pakistan conflict. He made several hollow threats during his visit to Washington last week.
Addressing the Pakistani diaspora in Tampa, Florida, Munir reportedly warned that Pakistan would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if its survival were at stake.
“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.
India's sharp rebuttal
Indian officials dismissed these remarks as part of a familiar Pakistani playbook - aggressive rhetoric whenever the country’s military enjoys Western backing. “It is a symptom that democracy does not exist in Pakistan and it is their military which controls the country,” one source said, suggesting Munir could be eyeing a future political role despite his denials.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also called Munir’s claims “nuclear sabre-rattling” and evidence of Pakistan's recklessness.
“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 MEA said in a statement last week.
“The international community can draw its own conclusions on the irresponsibility inherent in such remarks, which also reinforce well-held doubts about the integrity of nuclear command and control in a state where the military is hand-in-glove with terrorist groups,” the ministry added.
