In his conversation with a TV channel on September 28, Khawaja M Asif threatened to use nuclear weapons and ‘destroy India’. The statement came in the days following Uri attack by Pakistani terrorists. (Reuters image)
Khawaja M Asif, Pakistan Defence Minister, has been known for making controversial statements. The latest is his nuclear threat to Israel while responding to a fake news. Asif issued the threat after he was prompted by a fake news that said Israel had threatened Pakistan with nuclear weapons. “Israeli def min threatens nuclear retaliation presuming pak role in Syria against Daesh.Israel forgets Pakistan is a Nuclear state too AH,” the Pakistani defence minister tweeted.
According to NYT, Asif was apparently reacting to a fake news on awdnews.com. The headline of the news published on December 20 read: “‘Israeli Defense Minister: If Pakistan send ground troops to Syria on any pretext, we will destroy this country with a nuclear attack.” The fake story even misidentified Israel’s defence minister, attributing quotations to a former minister, Moshe Yaalon. Israel’s current minister of defence is Avigdor Lieberman. In a statement on Twitter, the Israeli defence ministry clarified that the news was fake.
Israeli def min threatens nuclear retaliation presuming pak role in Syria against Daesh.Israel forgets Pakistan is a Nuclear state too AH
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Later, in a bid to diffuse the controversy, Asif said Pakistan’s nuclear programme was only for protecting the country’s freedom. “Our nuclear prgrm is only a deterrence to protect our freedom.We desire to coexist in peace , both in our region & beyond,” he tweeted. As a defence minister of a nuclear state, Asif should be careful in making statements. However, this is not the first time when Asif has bragged about Pakistan’s nuclear power or said something outrageous. Here we present four more such instances of this:
ALSO READ: Fake news leads Pakistan minister to issue Nuclear threat to Israel
1. “India Ko Naesto Naboot Kar Denge (Will annihilate India)
In his conversation with a TV channel on September 28, Khawaja threatened to use nuclear weapons and ‘destroy India’. The statement came in the days following Uri attack by Pakistani terrorists.
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2. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are not just showpieces
Amidst growing tension over Uri attack by Pakistani terrorists in September this year, a video of Asif during an interview with Geo TV started doing the rounds on social media. In the video, Asif could be heard telling an interviewer that Pakistan is ahead of India in tactical capabilities. However, Asif also said he doesn’t believe there is a possibility of war with India. “We have not developed devices (nuclear weapons) as showpieces, if there will be a requirement, we will destroy them,” Asif added.
3. Pakistan open to using tactical weapons
In the same video, Asif said, “Islamabad is open to using tactical devices against India if it feels its safety is threatened,” he told the interviewer. Asif’s nuclear rhetoric against India was also noted by the US. The US State Department asked Pakistan to cut out the “rhetoric” and be a “responsible” nuclear state. “To answer your question about some of the rhetoric from the Pakistani government and the possibility of using nukes or nuclear weapons, I would just say nuclear-capable states have a very clear responsibility to exercise restraint regarding nuclear weapons and missile capabilities,” US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner was quoted as saying by IANS.
Watch Pakistan Defence Minister Khwaja Asif Brags About Nuclear Weapons
4. Narendra Modi is a mass murderer On December 12, Asif attacked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian people, saying they “shamelessly” accuse Pakistan of terrorism. “India has unique distinction of having a mass murderer/genocidal killer as prime minister..yet they shamelessly accuse Pakistan of terrorism,” he tweeted.
India has unique distinction of having a mass murderer/genocidal killer as prime minister..yet they shamelessly accuse Pakistan of terrorism
