Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has warned that India may attempt to stage a false flag operation in the maritime domain, stating that Pakistan’s armed forces are fully prepared to respond.
The remarks were made during a closed-door briefing to senior journalists on Monday, where the military spokesperson discussed regional security, counter-terrorism operations and Pakistan’s ongoing tensions with Afghanistan.
The warning comes as India begins its ‘Trishul’ military exercise in early November involving its navy, army and air force. “Let India do whatever it wants on land, at sea, or in the air,” the DG ISPR stated. “India must know that this time, the response will be far more severe.”
Providing details on Pakistan’s counter-terrorism campaign, Lt Gen Chaudhry said operations against militants designated by the state as Fitna al-Khawarij (TTP) were continuing, with 1,667 militants killed this year. He said over 62,000 security operations had been conducted, most of them in Balochistan, while 582 soldiers had been martyred.
Turning to Afghanistan, he dismissed conditions reportedly put forward by Kabul in recent talks, saying “only the elimination of terrorism matters.” He added that Pakistan had never celebrated the Taliban’s return to power and had clearly conveyed expectations during recent meetings in Doha and Istanbul.
“The TTP is operating as a branch of the Afghan Taliban,” he said, alleging that Pakistan had presented evidence of Afghan Taliban members involved in attacks on its soil. Senior journalist Hamid Mir, who attended the briefing, confirmed that journalists were shown identification documents of alleged Afghan militants.
The DG ISPR also highlighted a growing crime-terror nexus linked to cross-border drug trafficking and local warlord networks, calling it a key financial driver of militancy in the region.