SINGAPORE: Pakistan and India are nearing the pre-22nd April, 2025 era alongside the borders, as both countries are reducing the level of troops, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad said in an exclusive interview with Reuters.
Post Pehalgham attack, India strikes missiles into Pakistan territory, to which Pakistan retaliated in a befitting manner before United States President Donald Trump announces a ceasefire.
Both countries used fighter jets, missiles, drones, and artillery in four days of clashes. The situation escalated when India blamed Pakistan for backing the terrorists who carried out the attack.
Talking to Reuters, General Mirza said that “We have almost come back to the pre-22nd April situation… we are approaching that, or we must have approached that by now.”
“Nothing happened this time,” he said. “But you can’t rule out any strategic miscalculation at any time, because when the crisis is on, the responses are different. There was no move towards nuclear weapons during this conflict, it was a dangerous situation”.
“This (conflict) lowers the threshold between two countries who are contiguous nuclear powers…in the future, it will not be restricted to the disputed territory. It would come down to (the) whole of India and (the) whole of Pakistan,” General Mirza said. “This is a very dangerous trend.” He added.
“The time window for the international community to intervene would now be very less, and I would say that damage and destruction may take place even before that time window is exploited by the international community,” he said.
CJCSC General Sahir Shamshad noted that Pakistan was ready for the dialogue but there was no communication between both countries other than a crisis hotline between the directors general of military operations and some hotlines at the tactical level on the border.
“No plan to meet General Anil Chauhan, India’s chief of defence staff,” Mirza said while both are in Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue forum
