‘India is not Israel and Pakistan is not Palestine,’ says ISPR chief

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Sunday said that Pakistan will never be deterred and can never be coerced.

“The truth is that India is not the US and Pakistan is not Afghanistan. India is not Israel, and Pakistan is not Palestine. The reality is that Pakistan will never be deterred. Can never be coerced,” he said in an interview with the Turkish state-run news agency, Anadolu Agency.

Without conducting an investigation and presenting evidence, New Delhi had accused Islamabad of orchestrating the April 22 attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in Pahalgam, which had killed 26 people. 

Pakistan had strongly rejected the allegations and called for a neutral and transparent probe into the matter. 

On the night of May 6-7, India launched a series of strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir, killing over 30 civilians. Pakistan responded by downing five Indian fighter jets, including three Rafales, one Su-30 and one MiG-29 and later also intercepted dozens of its drones.

As the situation turned into a military confrontation between the neighbouring nuclear powers, it took US President Donald Trump's intervention for both sides to agree to a ceasefire last week.

“We are a peace-loving nation, but if provoked, coerced, and aggression is done... retribution will be swift and brutal. There should be no doubt about that,” DG ISPR clarified.

He further said that Pakistan will never bow down to Indian hegemony, adding, “the sooner they realise this, the better it will be for regional peace and the world.”

He highlighted that Pakistan has been the biggest victim of terrorism in the world. 

"Since January 2024, there have been 3,700 terrorist incidents in Pakistan. In these less than 17 months, the casualties have been 3,896, out of which 1,315 are shaheeds (martyrs),” he said, adding that terrorism is being sponsored and abetted by India.

Emphasising that terrorism, extremism and hatred were India’s internal problems, DG ISPR said that the New Delhi government was cracking down on groups, including Muslims and Sikhs in the country, which was fuelling more anger, extremism and terrorism.

“Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute. Three countries have a claim on Kashmir, including Pakistan, China and India. There are United Nations Security Council resolutions. So it has to be solved externally as per the will of the people, as per the UN charter, and that India is trying to internalise,” the military spokesperson said.