The Director General (DG) of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has dubbed reports claiming that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir intends to become the country's president, “nonsense”.

 

The military spokesperson passed the remark during a recent interview with the British journal The Economist.

 

Last month, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi firmly rebuffed rumours that President Zardari was being asked to resign or that the army chief was allegedly aspiring to assume the presidency.

 
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Naqvi wrote, “We are fully aware” of who is behind the “malicious campaign” targeting the president, Prime Minister (PM) Shahbaz Sharif, and the army chief.

 
“I have categorically stated that there has been no discussion, nor does any such idea exist, about the President being asked to resign or the COAS aspiring to assume the presidency,” he clarified.

 
Naqvi underscored that the President enjoys a strong and respectful relationship with the Armed Forces’ leadership. “I know who is spreading these falsehoods, why they are doing so, and who stands to benefit from this propaganda,” he quoted Zardari as saying. 

 
The interior minister emphasised that the sole focus of the COAS is the strength and stability of Pakistan, “nothing else”.

 
“To those involved in this narrative, do whatever you wish in collaboration with hostile foreign agencies. As for us, we will do whatever is necessary to make Pakistan strong again, InshAllah (sic),” he said.

 
While some media reports suggest that it all started with a couple of journalists “revealing” on social media that a plan was underway to remove Zardari for allegedly leaking the specific meeting conversation regarding the plan to build new Canals from the Indus River, others claim the rumours began circulating after the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) obtained a simple majority in the National Assembly (NA) after the reinstatement of reserved seats by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) following the top court’s Constitutional Bench verdict.

 

When the DG of the military’s public relations was asked about how Pakistan would respond to New Delhi taking any action in the future. Not mincing his words, the General replied that it would begin by striking deeper within India.

 

“We’ll start from the east,” the military spokesperson stated, adding, “They [India] also need to understand that they can be hit everywhere.”