Pakistan defence minister warns of ‘all-out war’ with India, blames New Delhi for Afghan strikes

File photo of Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has warned that an “all-out war” with India cannot be ruled out, in what appears to be another attempt by Islamabad to shift blame for its spiralling internal security crisis. Speaking to a local television channel, Asif claimed that India could be behind recent attacks in Pakistan, including those carried out by Afghan nationals, despite providing no evidence.

“We are neither ignoring India nor trusting it under any circumstances. Based on my analysis, I cannot rule out an ALL-OUT WAR or any hostile strategy from India, including border incursions or attacks (presumably Afghan). We must stay fully alert,” Asif said.

His comments come amid renewed instability inside Pakistan, where multiple suicide bombings and insurgent attacks have exposed the state’s weakening control over its own territory. In the past month, Pakistan has blamed Afghanistan and India alternately for the rise in cross-border terrorism, while domestic critics argue that the country’s policies of nurturing militant proxies are now backfiring.

Pakistan’s internal failures dressed as external threats

Pakistan recently accused Afghan nationals of carrying out two major suicide bombings on its soil, further straining its already deteriorating relationship with the Taliban administration in Kabul. Islamabad has claimed that Afghan-based militants, including the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have intensified attacks with support from across the border.

Last week, a suicide bomber blew himself up near a police patrol outside a lower court in Islamabad, killing 12 people and injuring 27 others. Asif described the bombing as a “wake-up call” for Pakistan, admitting that the country was now “in a state of war.”

However, instead of acknowledging internal security lapses, the minister turned his attention towards India. In a familiar deflection, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused New Delhi of orchestrating the attacks through “Indian-sponsored terror proxies.”

India strongly dismissed the allegations, calling them “predictable” and “baseless.” The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Pakistan’s leadership was deliberately fabricating narratives to divert attention from its own internal turmoil.

“India unequivocally rejects the baseless and unfounded allegations being made by an obviously delirious Pakistani leadership. It is a predictable tactic by Pakistan to concoct false narratives against India in order to deflect the attention of its own public from the ongoing military-inspired constitutional subversion and power-grab unfolding within the country,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

The fallout from Operation Sindoor

The latest war rhetoric from Islamabad comes just months after India’s Operation Sindoor, which dealt a heavy blow to Pakistan’s terror infrastructure following the Pahalgam attack in April that killed 26 civilians.

The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack, which prompted India to take decisive diplomatic and military measures. New Delhi first suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and later launched precision airstrikes targeting terror bases across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

As part of Operation Sindoor, Indian forces eliminated over 100 terrorists and struck several key sites linked to major terror groups. These included Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, Lashkar’s Markaz Taiba in Murdike, Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala, and Hizbul Mujahideen’s facilities in Kotli and Sialkot.

For four days, cross-border exchanges intensified before both countries reached an understanding to halt hostilities on May 10. Analysts say the operation demonstrated India’s superior military capability and exposed Pakistan’s weakened defence posture, particularly its inability to protect its own terror-linked assets.

Islamabad’s familiar blame game

Pakistan’s renewed warnings of war are being viewed as an effort to rally domestic sentiment amid growing unrest and economic decline. Its security apparatus remains overstretched, facing threats from multiple fronts -- Baloch separatists, Islamist insurgents, and the TTP.

Experts believe that by invoking the India threat, Pakistan’s military and political establishment are trying to mask internal failures and reassert control.

Khawaja Asif’s latest remarks echo Islamabad’s long-standing habit of externalising its crises. Instead of confronting the reality that Pakistan’s decades-long policy of supporting terror groups has now turned inward, its leaders continue to blame neighbours for their own instability.

For India, officials have made clear that such accusations are nothing more than political theatre. New Delhi views the situation as Pakistan’s own creation -- a state engulfed by the very extremism it once exported.