Asim Munir fires back: Pakistan needed no China or Turkey, says India’s ‘axis’ claim is fiction, ‘shoddy camp politics’

Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir didn’t hold back. Standing before new officers at the National Defence University in Islamabad, he tore into India’s claim that Pakistan leaned on China and Turkey during the May conflict. In his words, “Insinuations regarding external support in Pakistan’s successful Operation Bunyanum Marsoos are irresponsible and factually incorrect and reflect a chronic reluctance to acknowledge indigenous capability and institutional resilience developed over decades of strategic prudence.”

He called India’s attempt to drag other states into the fray a cheap trick. “Naming other states as participants in the purely bilateral military conflagration is also a shoddy attempt at playing camp politics,” Munir said, brushing off talk of a bigger nexus as just spin.

A blunt warning

Munir didn’t stop at a denial. He promised a punishing response to any future strike. “Any attempt to target our population centres, military bases, economic hubs and ports will instantly invoke a deeply hurting and more than reciprocal response,” he said. For him, the battlefield isn’t decided by imported gear or catchy headlines. It’s grit and discipline that matter. Or as he put it, “Wars are not won through media rhetoric, imported fancy hardware, or political sloganeering, but through faith, professional competence, operational clarity, institutional strength and national resolve.”

India’s charge: A hidden ‘unholy’ axis

India doesn’t buy it. Lieutenant General Rahul R Singh, the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, laid out what he called the real picture. At a defence event in Delhi, he said, “China is able to test its weapons against other weapons, so it’s like a live lab available to them. Turkey also played an important role in providing the type of support it did.” According to Singh, China fed Pakistan live updates of Indian troop positions while Turkish drones filled the skies. His blunt verdict: India faced not one enemy, but three.

How it began

Operation Sindoor wasn’t born in a vacuum. On 22 April, militants attacked tourists in Pahalgam, Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan. On 7 May, India struck back, hitting terrorist camps in Pakistan-held territory. What followed was four days of drones, missiles and artillery fire — some of the fiercest exchanges between the two since Kargil. It ended, officially, when both Director Generals of Military Operations agreed to stop on 10 May. India claims its strikes were so punishing that Pakistan had no choice but to sue for peace.

Beijing keeps its distance

Caught in the middle of the allegations, China plays it safe. When pressed, the Chinese foreign ministry said only, “China and Pakistan are close neighbours enjoying traditional friendship. Defence and security cooperation is part of the normal cooperation between the two countries and does not target any third party.” Not exactly a denial, not quite an admission either.Behind the denials and threats is an old rivalry that refuses to stay quiet. Pakistan, once again describing itself as the region’s “net security provider,” still faces whispers about terror safe havens. India, meanwhile, is wary of an axis forming around its borders. For all the new weapons and fresh alliances, the script feels familiar.This clash might have ended with a handshake between the two Director Generals of Military Operations, but the story is far from over. Pakistan continues to deny any link to the Pahalgam attack, even as India says the safe havens remain. Munir’s tough words fit the old script: Pakistan as the regional stabiliser, India as the aggressor. On India’s side, the claim is simple — the battlefield is bigger than the Line of Control and so are the players.

So the guns are silent, for now. But whether you believe Munir or Singh, there’s one truth no one can deny: the next spark is never too far away.