Embarrassed & defied, will Gen Asim Munir now use Pakistan army's 'favourite weapon' against India?

File: Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (R) and country's army chief General Asim Munir (AFP)

The Pakistani military’s covert support for terrorists and use of proxy warfare tactics to "bleed India with a thousand cuts" has long been an open secret. But now, even the final pretenses have fallen apart, with Pakistani army personnel seen alongside known terrorists at the funerals of those killed in Indian strikes.

The head of the Hydra, is of course, Pakistan's army chief General Asim Munir. In the last few days, the imprint of Munir's blessings was quite apparent in Pakistan's counter-aggression to India's retribution. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif repeatedly extended reverences to Munir during his speeches amid the escalating conflict with India, praising the all-powerful military for its decisive answer to Indian action.

In fact, during the four-day conflict—now on pause due to a fragile ceasefire—the civilian government played a largely peripheral role, focusing on international diplomacy and media management. The shots, as we all know, were called by by Asim Munir and his close aides like Lieutenant General Muhammad Asim Malik and Lieutenant General Nauman Zakaria.

Pakistani army personnel seen along side LeT commander and UN-designated global terrorist Hafiz Abdul Rauf at funeral prayers for terrorists killed in India's strikes (Source: X)

But following India’s unprecedented strikes on Pakistani air bases and mounting international pressure, Pakistan seems to have taken the off-ramp, choosing to let the situation simmer—at least for now.

Munir's 'jihadi' route

India has made it clear that any act of terrorism on its soil will now be considered an "act of war". That's because New Delhi knows that the deep state in Pakistan will continue to provide covert support to terrorists to cause instability in Kashmir, even while the civilian government laughingly paints itself as a "victim" of terror.

India's message was more of a final warning to Pakistan, or rather Munir himself: send Pakistan-based terrorists to Indian territory and it will be considered as the original escalation. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri, during one of his media briefings, said that the April 22 Pahalgam attack was the original escalation and everything that followed was a consequence of that.

The real question is: will it deter Munir from adopting the familiar route of insurgency and proxy warfare? Sources familiar with the situation told The Times of India that the possibility of further terror strikes in India cannot be ruled out.

The neighbouring country's failure to breach India's superior air defence system may prompt Munir to indirectly engineer terror attacks in Kashmir, TOI reported quoting sources.

Some media reports on Saturday indicated that the ceasefire breach by Pakistan, mere hours after the DGMOs agreed to halt military action, could have been cover fire to aide infiltration into India.

The sources told TOI that the presence of senior Pakistani army personnel, along with men like like LeT commander Hafiz Abdul Rauf, during the funeral of terrorists briefly dropped the facade that the individuals targeted by India were non-state actors.

A source told TOI that Pakistani army can ill-afford to abandon terrorists at a time when they are seeking revenge for the losses suffered during Operation Sindoor. That, he said, would be like abandoning their "favourite weapon" against India.

Despite the world's focus on the intense military action between both sides in recent days, Pakistan's muted efforts to aid infiltration into India were clearly evident.

The BSF killed at least seven Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorists in J&K's Samba who were trying to enter India on May 8-9. Meanwhile, the Army also busted two terrorist launchpads near the Pakistani army post in PoK during retaliatory firing in Uri. At least 28 terrorists, who were waiting to enter India under the cover of Pakistani artillery firing, were killed by the forces, sources told TOI.

Even late Saturday, when Pakistan had breached ceasefire agreement, an intrusion attempt was made at the Nagrota Military Station in Jammu. A sentry thwarted the bid after noticing suspicious movement near the perimeter.

All these incidents indicate that Munir, who was the ISI chief when the 2019 Pulwama attack took place, will resort to other ways to hurt India as the militaries on both sides show restraint.

One has to simply revisit Munir's provocative speech to a gathering of overseas Pakistanis to understand his sinister objectives. "Our stance on Kashmir is absolutely clear. It is our jugular vein. We will not leave our Kashmiri brethren, in their struggle ... against the Indian government," he proclaimed in a highly incendiary speech, seen as a trigger for the Pahalgam attack.

Only now, India's stance on terrorism has been made clear to the world. Needless to say, any further covert attempt by Munir to destabilise the situation will be met with a firm response and will be the original escalation.