A former Pentagon official, Michael Rubin, has rebuked Pakistani army chief Asim Munir over his recent nuclear rhetoric during his visit to the United States. Munir had said that Pakistan “would take half the world down" if they are threatened. He made this remark during a meeting with US military officials in Florida.
Calling Pakistan ‘a rogue state’, Rubin said such warnings were completely unacceptable and Munir was making statements similar to that of ISIS and Osama Bin Laden.
“Pakistan is raising questions in many people's minds about whether it can fulfil the responsibilities of being a state. The Field Marshal's rhetoric is reminiscent of what we've heard from the Islamic State,” Michael Rubin said while talking with ANI.
Warning of the diplomatic repercussions over irresponsible statements, Rubio said Pakistan should be stripped of its status as a major non-NATO ally and potentially designate it as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Besides, he sought Munir be declared persona non grata and banned from receiving US visas.
“Within 30 minutes of when Asim Munir made those comments, he should have been ushered out, taken to Tampa International Airport, and flown out of the United States. Americans look at terrorism through the lens of grievance. They don't understand the ideological underpinnings of many terrorists. Asim Munir is Osama bin Laden in a suit," Rubin said.
Asim Munir’s US visit and nuke threat
Munir visited the United States for the second time since military engagement between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack. While interacting with the officials, he issued a nuclear threat to India, saying Pakistan would "take half the world down" with it if his country faces existential crisis from New Delhi.
"We are a nuclear nation, if we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us," The Print quoted Munir as saying at the event in Tampa.
MEA slams Pakistan over Munir’s ‘nuclear sabre-rattling’
The MEA on Monday slammed Asim Munir over his nuclear threat, asserting that the latter’s remark underscore concerns over Islamabad’s nuclear command and control being in the hands of a military “hand-in-glove with terrorist groups”.
“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,” the MEA stated.
