Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Asim Munir, has issued an unprecedented “nuclear war” threat while speaking at an event in the United States, warning that his country would “take half the world down” if it faced an existential threat in a future conflict with India.

“We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us,” Munir said, according to reports. This is believed to be the first nuclear threat made from US soil against a third country.

The remarks were delivered during a dinner hosted by businessman Adnan Asad, the honorary consul for Tampa. Around 120 Pakistani-origin attendees were present, and mobile phones or digital devices were not allowed. A representative from the Israel Defence Forces was also reportedly in attendance.

Indus Waters Treaty warning

Munir also threatened to destroy any infrastructure India builds on the Indus river system, claiming that New Delhi’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty after the April Pahalgam terror attack could put 250 million Pakistanis at risk of starvation.

“We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does, we’ll destroy it with 10 missiles. The Indus River is not India’s family property. We have no shortage of missiles, al-hamdulillah (praise be to God),” he said.

Remarks on India-Pakistan conflict

The Army Chief criticised India for not revealing its losses during the recent four-day military clash with Pakistan, saying Islamabad would also make its losses public if New Delhi did the same. Reading from prepared notes, Munir referenced Surah Al-Fil from the Quran to suggest potential attacks on India’s most valuable resources in the east before moving westward.

In a striking analogy, Munir compared India to a “shiny Mercedes” and Pakistan to a “dump truck,” suggesting that if the two collided, the car would be the loser.

On his second US visit in two months, Munir also repeated his earlier suggestion to award US President Donald Trump a Nobel Peace Prize. Amid speculation about his political ambitions, he argued for greater military involvement in politics, saying: “Politics is too serious to be left to the politicians.”