Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated sharply after explosive remarks from Pakistan’s Minister Hanif Abbasi, who openly threatened India with nuclear retaliation. Abbasi warned that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal—including Ghori, Shaheen, and Ghaznavi missiles and 130 nuclear warheads—is “kept only for India.” He declared that if India halts Pakistan’s water supply by suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, it should prepare for a full-scale war, emphasizing that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are not symbolic and are hidden across the country, ready to strike.
His aggressive comments come in response to India's tough new measures following the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people. In reaction, India announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, revoked all visas for Pakistani nationals, and initiated a series of trade and diplomatic countermeasures. Abbasi mocked these actions, claiming that India was beginning to realize the serious consequences of its moves. Citing Pakistan's closure of its airspace to Indian flights, he taunted that just two days of disruption had caused chaos in Indian aviation and warned that further restrictions could push Indian airlines toward bankruptcy.
Abbasi also lashed out at India, accusing it of blaming Pakistan for its own security lapses in the Pahalgam attack. He asserted that Pakistan was prepared to withstand any economic fallout from India’s actions, signaling a hardened stance from Islamabad.
Adding further fuel to the fire, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had earlier made a stunning admission that Pakistan had, for decades, supported and trained terror groups at the behest of the US and the West during the Cold War and post-9/11 era. While acknowledging that this strategy had inflicted severe damage on Pakistan itself, Asif tried to deflect blame onto Western powers. He also controversially claimed that the Pahalgam terror attack was “staged” by India to create a crisis and discredit Pakistan internationally.
Asif denied the existence of groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba—despite global consensus about its past activities—and claimed ignorance about the Resistance Front, which has claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam massacre. Despite Pakistan's official condemnation of the attack, these contradictory statements have further deepened distrust between the two nations.
The situation now stands at a highly dangerous point, with nuclear threats being exchanged, diplomatic ties fraying, and regional tensions climbing sharply. International observers are closely watching the developments, deeply concerned about the risk of escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
