Pakistan will use nuclear weapons against India in 3 scenarios: Nawaz Sharif aide

Poster of Pakistan army chief Asim Munir (File photo)

Nuclear threats have been flying thick and fast in Pakistan as the country dusts off the scars from the four-day intense military conflict with India in May.

Pakistan's political commentator and Nawaz Sharif aide Najam Sethi has now listed the three scenarios that can trigger a nuclear response from Islamabad.

In a recent interview to Pakistan-based Samaa TV, Sethi echoed army chief Gen Asim Munir's threat that his country will target any dam built by India on the Indus river to block their water supply.

"If you stop our water by building dams, we will hit you with not just one, but 10 missiles and destroy those dams. We have many missiles," Sethi boasted.

He further recalled that he was asked by an Indian journalist whether Pakistan will resort to nuclear warfare with India.

To this, he outlined three scenarios that could trigger Pakistan’s use of nuclear weapons against India: a naval blockade of Karachi port that restricts Pakistan’s maritime movement, an Indian Army advance into Karachi and Lahore that splits the country’s north and south, and any attempt by India to block Pakistan’s water supply.

Sethi added that the journalist asked him whether Pakistan would actually follow through on such threats, to which he replied that his country did not build nuclear weapons for Diwali.

This is not the first time that a senior Pakistani figure has resorted to nuclear blackmail against India.

From PM Shehbaz Sharif to army chief Munir, the entire pantheon of Pakistani leadership has dangled the familiar nuclear threats as India remains firm on its decision to hold the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance.

Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had warned: “You cannot snatch even one drop of Pakistan,” vowing strong retaliation if India attempts to block water.

Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari termed the suspension of the IWT “an attack on the Indus Valley Civilisation” and said that such a move could push the neighbours to a state of war.

Recently, army chief Munir gave the most reckless nuclear warning from American soil when he said that Pakistan will "take down half the world" if faced with an existential threat from India. He had also threatened to blow up any dam India builds on the Indus river.

India has routinely dismissed Pakistan's "nuclear sabre-rattling", saying that it's their "stock-in-trade".

Moreover, PM Modi said in his Independence Day speech that Indus Water Treaty was an injustice to the people of India, signalling that New Delhi is no mood to revisit its decision.

"A compromise on farmers' interests and national interests is not acceptable to us. Not anymore," he had said.

The Prime Minister had also said that "blood and water cannot flow together", asserting that India won't revoke its decision until Pakistan-sponsored terrorism stops.