US call to army chief Asim Munir shows who calls the shots in Pakistan

Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir Ahmed Shah.

Find a way to deescalate, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an unprecedented call to Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir on Saturday after the latter’s big escalation in the ongoing conflict with India.

Indian government sources say the call by Rubio to Munir shows that the United States also realises that it is Munir who is calling the shots when it comes to the ongoing conflict and not Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Rubio also called up the foreign minister of Pakistan, Ishaq Dar, with a similar message, but it was his call to Munir that has raised eyebrows in India.

The escalation by Pakistan on Saturday came within a couple of hours of it securing a bailout from the IMF, where the US is a major player. In fact, some in India are now raising questions about why the US did not make a bigger effort to stop the bailout of Pakistan at the IMF. The US role and stand in the current conflict has been confusing, with US Vice-President JD Vance saying it is essentially India and Pakistan’s business, and the US would stay away.

But on Saturday, Rubio also called India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, proposing US support in “facilitating productive discussions to avert future disputes". His message to Dar and Munir in Pakistan was on the same lines. It shows the US now wants to play mediator between India and Pakistan to facilitate a dialogue.

Top Indian government officials say irrespective of what US says, Pakistan will be given a response by India if it continues to escalate matters. “The US can say what it wants to say, but India will respond in the same manner or more. If Pakistan attacks us, it will get a bloody nose," a top government official told CNN-News18.

India says that its offensive against Pakistan achieved its objective with Operation Sindoor on May 7, but Pakistan since has up the ante by firing hundreds of drones at Indian military targets as well as major cities and using missiles and fighter jets on Saturday morning to attempt to target India’s military installations.