Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Thursday reiterated that the Pakistan Armed Forces are fully prepared and will defend the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty at all costs.
“We will do it, come what may,” the DG ISPR vowed while addressing a press conference alongside Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) Rear Admiral Shafaat Ali and Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Projects) Air Vice Marshal Tariq Ghazi on the eve of the first anniversary of Marka-e-Haq.
He said that, by the grace of Allah, Pakistan’s Armed Forces fulfilled the aspirations of the nation by completely defeating an enemy five times larger in a multi-domain war. “The Pakistan Armed Forces defeated the enemy in line with the vision of the country’s political and military leadership,” he said.
He said that every child in Pakistan knows what happened during Marka-e-Haq. “Even children in India know what Pakistan did,” he added.
The DG ISPR said that there were 10 strategic consequences of Marka-e-Haq, the first of which was that the Indian narrative portraying Pakistan as a source of terrorism now stood buried. India had consistently attempted to link terrorism with Pakistan without any evidence, he said.
He said that the FIR related to the Pahalgam incident was registered just 10 minutes after the occurrence of the incident. Despite the lapse of one year, India had failed to provide answers to Pakistan’s queries regarding the Pahalgam incident, he added.
He said India had repeatedly staged dramas alleging that Pakistan perpetrated terrorism in India, but now India’s narrative of accusing Pakistan of terrorism had been buried forever.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif said that India itself was the biggest sponsor of terrorism and had attempted to project itself as a net security provider. Pakistan and its leadership have emerged as the biggest ambassadors of security in the region, he added.
He said Indian politicians appeared more like warmongers. Some Indian politicians raise slogans of “Akhand Bharat” and speak in threatening language, he said.
The DG ISPR said it was a global acknowledgement of India’s efforts to externalize its internal problems and internalize its external issues while using terrorism as a state tool.
He said India has numerous internal problems and has failed to resolve them. India presents its internal problems as external issues and raises the issue of terrorism whenever it cannot address its own failures.
He went on to say that Kashmir is not India’s internal matter, but an internationally recognized dispute. India commits terrorism within its own country and then accuses others, he added.
He said that after Marka-e-Haq, the world recognized how India operated. Indian authorities had started shutting down Pakistani media during Marka-e-Haq, and this practice was still continuing, he said.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif said that warfare was no longer limited to borders; rather, it is fought on land, at sea, in the air, in cyberspace and in the cognitive domain. Pakistan’s Armed Forces were prepared to confront India during Marka-e-Haq across all these domains, he said.
He said Indian media provided considerable entertainment to the Indian public. Referring to claims beginning from the “port of Lahore,” he said the Pakistan Navy was still observing how such claims had been made. He urged Indian media to show courage and speak the truth.
He said there was no space for war between two nuclear neighbours. “Anyone who thinks there is space for war between two nuclear neighbours is crazy. That is madness. Only a madman can think that way. If you want to do it, then there should be no doubt about our resolve,” he said.
He said that the last, but most important, consequence was the unshakeable synergy between the people, the government and the armed forces, which he described as the “Bunyanum Marsoos effect.”
Presenting the counterterrorism efforts of the Pakistan Armed Forces after Marka-e-Haq, the DG ISPR said that India was given a “lesson of their life,” after which it reverted to its default option of using terrorist proxies.
He said that in October, Pakistan struck terrorist support infrastructure in Afghanistan, following which the number of terrorist incidents witnessed a sharp decline.
Terrorism in Pakistan was being orchestrated by India, while Afghanistan was being used as a base of operations, he said.
He recalled that during a press conference on May 11, 2025, he had stated that Pakistan’s military capability demonstrated during Marka-e-Haq represented only 10 per cent of the armed forces’ full potential. “We are prepared; if anyone wishes to test us, they are more than welcome,” he said.
