Field Marshal Munir ‘rejects’ India’s claims of Chinese support during recent conflict

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir has rejected India’s claims that China provided support to Pakistan during the recent armed conflict in May this year.

Addressing the National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad today, the military chief said that India’s naming of other states as participants in the purely bilateral military conflagration is also a “shoddy attempt at playing camp politics.”

“India is desperately trying to ensure that it remains the beneficiary of larger geopolitical contestation as the so-called net security provider in a region that is getting increasingly weary of its hegemonic and extremist Hindutva ideology,” the COAS Munir said.

During his visit to the university, he addressed the graduating officers of the National Security and War Course, comprising participants from all services.

Moreover, while addressing, Field Marshal noted that “India’s inability to achieve its stated military objectives during Operation Sindoor” and the subsequent attempt to rationalize this shortfall through convoluted logic speak volumes about its lack of operational readiness and strategic foresight.

“Insinuations regarding external support in Pakistan’s successful Operation Bunyanum Marsoos are irresponsible and factually incorrect and reflect a chronic reluctance to acknowledge indigenous capability and institutional resilience developed over decades of strategic prudence,” he stated.

Highlighting India’s strategic behaviour resting on parochial self-alignment, the COAS stressed that Pakistan has forged lasting partnerships based on principled diplomacy, anchored in mutual respect and peace, establishing itself to be a stabilizer in the region.

He also reiterated Islamabad’s “principled stance that any misadventure or attempts to undermine Pakistan’s sovereignty or violation of territorial integrity will continue to be reflexively met with a swift and resolute response without any constraints or inhibitions”.

Furthermore, the Army Chief highlighted the evolving character of warfare and underscored the centrality of mental preparedness, operational clarity, and institutional professionalism in navigating complex strategic issues.

“He lauded the role of premier institutions like NDU in enhancing civil-military synergy and nurturing future leadership capable of mitigating hybrid, conventional, and sub-conventional threats with poise and resolve.”

The COAS remarked that “wars are not won through media rhetoric, imported fancy hardware, or political sloganeering, but through faith, professional competence, operational clarity, institutional strength, and national resolve.”

COAS concluded by expressing full confidence in the professionalism, morale, and readiness of the battle-hardened Armed Forces of Pakistan and urged the graduating officers to remain steadfast in the values of integrity, selfless service, and unwavering commitment to the nation, the ISPR statement read.