ISPR rejects Gen Dwivedi’s ‘geography or history’ remarks as ‘provocative, dangerous’

• Military takes exception after Indian army chief says Pakistan should decide between being 'part of geography' or not

• Says Pakistan is already a country of consequence at global level, a declared nuclear power and an indelible part of South Asia’s geography and history

• Warns any attempt to target Pakistan will trigger ‘mutual and comprehensive’ consequences

• Says Hindutva-driven mindset pushing South Asia towards repeated crises, urging India to accept Pakistan’s regional and global salience

• Accuses New Delhi of regional destabilisation and global disinformation campaigns

 RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s military on Sunday strongly rebuked Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi over his recent provocative remarks, warning New Delhi against pushing South Asia towards another conflict with “devastating” consequences for the entire region and beyond.

Responding to the Indian army chief’s comments made during an interactive session in New Delhi a day earlier, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that Gen Dwivedi had remarked that “Pakistan should decide if it desired to be part of geography and history”.

Rejecting the statement as provocative and dangerous, the military’s media wing said: “Contrary to the delusional and hallucinational belief system and despite the omnipresent ill wishes that prevail in Hindutva-led India, Pakistan is already a country of consequence at global level, a declared nuclear power and an indelible part of South Asia’s geography and history.”

The ISPR observed that the remarks reflected the Indian leadership’s continued inability to reconcile with the existence of Pakistan even after more than seven decades. “The Indian leadership has neither been able to reconcile with the very idea of Pakistan nor it has learnt the right lessons, even after passage of eight decades,” the statement said.

It further described the Indian mindset as “hubristic, jingoistic and myopic”, warning that such rhetoric had repeatedly pushed South Asia towards wars and major crises in the past.

“Threatening a sovereign nuclear neighbour with elimination from ‘geography’ is not strategic signalling or brinkmanship; it is sheer bankruptcy of cognitive capacities, madness and warmongering,” the ISPR warned, adding that any attempt at “geographic obliteration” would inevitably have “mutual and comprehensive” consequences.

Stress­ing that responsible nuclear states demonstrate restraint and strategic maturity, the ISPR said the language of “civilisational supremacy or national erasure” was reckless and dangerous for regional peace.

The military’s media wing advised the Indian leadership “not to attempt to push South Asia towards another crisis or war whose consequences would only be devastating for the complete region and beyond”.

“India needs to reconcile with Pakistan’s salience and learn to peacefully co-exist with it. Otherwise, any attempt to target Pakistan can trigger consequences that shall neither be geographically confined nor strategically or politically palatable for India,” the statement added.

The ISPR also accused India of ignoring its own “historically documented record” of regional destabilisation, alleging that New Delhi had acted as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, a practitioner of transnational assassinations and a source of global disinformation campaigns.

“Delhi’s aggressive posturing stems less from confidence and more from frustration at its inability to harm Pakistan, that has been brutally exposed during Marka-e-Haq,” the statement said, referring to last year’s military escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

According to the Press Trust of India, Gen Dwivedi made the remarks during an interactive session in New Delhi on Saturday while responding to a question about how the Indian army would react if circumstances similar to those leading to “Operation Sindoor” last year emerged again. Repeating New Delhi’s longstanding allegations regarding terrorism — claims Islamabad has consistently rejected — the Indian army chief said Pakistan “had to decide whether they want to be part of geography or history or not”.

Earlier this month, Pakistan marked the first anniversary of the May 2025 conflict between Pakistan and India, which witnessed a four-day military escalation.

Speaking at a ceremony held at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on May 10 to commemorate the victory, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir warned that any future “misadventure” against Pakistan would invite “extremely far-reaching and painful” consequences for the adversary.

Meanwhile, a growing body of commentary by international analysts suggests that any future confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours could prove significantly more dangerous, with diminishing space for outside powers to effectively contain a rapidly escalating crisis.