Pakistan Army Chief Warns: “We’ll take down half the world.”

St. Croix Times Staff

Tampa, Florida - Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir has openly warned of a “nuclear war” as he spoke from American soil. Addressing an event in Tampa, Florida, Pakistan’s de facto military ruler threatened to take down “half the world” if 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,” Mr. Munir stated.

The remarks were the first public nuclear threats to have ever been delivered from U.S. soil against a third country. They were reportedly made during a dinner hosted by Mr. Munir by businessman Adnan Asad, who serves as the honorary consul for Tampa.

Mr. Munir, Pakistan’s Field Marshall, also threatened to destroy any infrastructure that India builds on the Indus water channels - which could impede water flow to Pakistan. He claimed that his country has no dearth of missiles. Mr. Munir also put India’s government on notice announcing  that New Delhi’s decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty into abeyance after the Pahalgam terror attack in April could put 250 million people at risk of starvation. 

“We will wait for India to build a damn, and when it does so, we will destroy it with 10 missiles,” Mr. Munir threatened. “The Indus River is not the Indians’ family property. We have no shortage of missiles, Praise be to God.”

The Pahalgam terror attack on Indian soil was carried out by militants who singled out male Hindu tourists and murdered 26 of them and injured 20, in front of their families in Baisaran, a beauty spot about 7km from the town of Pahalgam. 

The massacre brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of war. India blamed Pakistan for the killings -an accusation Islamabad denied - and the two countries subsequently attacked each other with missiles and drones over four days, after which a fragile truce was agreed.

The Pakistan Army Chief is on his second visit to the U.S. in two months. On his last visit, he was invited for a White House luncheon with President Trump on June 18, 2025. During the visit, he had recommended the U.S. President’s name for a Nobel Prize for his supposed peace-making efforts between Pakistan and India. He reiterated the proposal during the Tampa event.

The strife between the two countries is decades old, stemming from their independence and the subsequent partition of British India in 1947 which led to the creation of India and Pakistan. The ongoing dispute, particularly over the Kashmir region, which both countries claim, has led to multiple wars, armed skirmishes, and persistent tensions. 

“India is shining, a Mercedes coming on a highway like a Ferrari,” Mr. Munir said during comments. “But we are a dump truck full of gravel. If the truck hits the car, who is going to be the loser?”

There is speculation that the Army Chief has aspirations to become Pakistan’s next President. He also took the opportunity to comment on the possibility of military involvement in Pakistan’s politics.

“They say war is too serious to be left to the Generals, but politics is also too serious to be left to the politicians.”  

Mr. Munir’s bombastic comments left one reporter covering the Tampa event to wonder if he found something about the cuisine that didn’t go down well with him.