Pakistan army Chief Asim Munir's resolute warning post Pahalgam horror: ‘Any military misadventure by India will be…’

Pakistan Army Chief general Syed Asim Munir, who for so long was speculated to be ‘hiding’, stood resolute atop a tank and declared, “Let there be no ambiguity. Any military misadventure by India will be met with a swift, resolute and notch-up response.”

The declaration came on Thursday, weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack soured an already fragile relation between India and Pakistan.

Asim Munir, who has only days before the Pahalgam terror attack, dubbed Kashmir as the ‘jugular vein’ of Pakistan, has now taken the centre stage to determine Islamabad's tone amid surging tensions between Pakistan and India.

Munir labeling Kashmir as ‘jugular vein’, was indicative of a deeply woven Pakistani cultural narrative and vocabulary, signifying how Pakistan sees Kashmir as vital to its national identity. In the same speech, General Munir said, “We will not leave our Kashmiri brethren in their heroic struggle that they are waging against Indian occupation.”

On April 26, Asim Munir addressed cadets at a graduation ceremony for the country’s premier military academy. He invoked the “two-nation theory” — the framework behind Pakistan’s founding in 1947, which asserts that Hindus and Muslims are separate nations needing separate homelands.

Pakistani authorities have firmly denied any association between General Munir’s statements and the recent attack in Kashmir.

Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent envoy to the United Nations, dismissed India’s accusations of Pakistani involvement, emphasising that the fundamental cause of unrest in South Asia remains the longstanding unresolved issue of Kashmir.

For his part, General Munir has spoken since the Pahalgam terror attack in explicitly ideological terms that indicate he is disinclined to believe that long-term peace with India is possible.

After attacks on Indian security forces in Kashmir in 2016 and 2019, India responded by striking what it said were terrorist camps inside Pakistan.

Two-Nation Theory and Kashmir

The two-nation theory has long shaped Pakistan’s national identity and foreign policy, with Islamabad military leaders historically emphasising it during periods of tension with India and softening their stance when diplomacy was possible.

Since the partition of British India in 1947, Kashmir has remained the epicentre of the India-Pakistan rivalry, marked by wars, insurgencies, and ongoing military presence, making it one of the world’s most volatile regions.

General Munir’s recent revival of the two-nation ideology and his remarks have been seen by many in India as signalling a significant shift in Pakistan’s approach. His statements are widely interpreted as an effort to project strength and rally public support amid Pakistan’s political divisions and economic difficulties, which have weakened the once unwavering loyalty towards the military establishment.

However, analysts view Asim Munir as more than a political strategist; his hardline stance on India is shaped by his leadership of Pakistan’s top military intelligence agencies and his conviction that the conflict with India is fundamentally religious in nature.

Asim Munir's Rise in Pakistan

General Asim Munir’s current involvement in the Kashmir crisis is not his first experience with regional tensions. In 2019, as head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), he played a key role during the suicide bombing in Kashmir that led to Indian airstrikes and a brief military escalation.

Asim Munir's tenure ended months later when Prime Minister Imran Khan removed him.

Munir’s relationship with Imran Khan remained strained, with the former Pakistan PM opposing his elevation to army chief.

After Khan was ousted in April 2022, Asim Munir took command seven months later. Imran Khan, still popular among the public, has been imprisoned for two years.

Since Asim Munir’s appointment, the military has taken a firmer stance in managing Pakistan's relations with India, consolidating control by appointing the spy chief as national security adviser-a role traditionally held by retired generals or civilians.

Diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan remain frozen, with aggressive public rhetoric replacing quiet diplomacy, heightening the risk of miscalculation amid ongoing regional tensions.