We Don’t Have ‘No First Use’ Policy, Says Pak Army Spokesperson

Ghafoor also said, “Kashmir is our jugular vein and we will go to any length to protect it.”

File image of Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor.

(Photo Courtesy: ISPR)

Addressing a press conference Pakistan Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said that Pakistan doesn’t have a ‘no first use’ policy for nuclear weapons.

“We don’t have any ‘no first use’ policy. Our weapons are for deterrence. As far as India is concerned, it us up to them to formulate any policy.”

Major General Asif Ghafoor, Pakistan Army

However, he added that nuclear countries have no room for war.

This comes after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said his nation would never initiate a war against India.

Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh on 16 August had said that even though India has adhered to the no first use policy, “what happens in the future will depend on circumstances”.

Ghafoor also said, according to local publication Dawn, “Kashmir is our jugular vein and we will go to any length to protect it.”

He added that minorities were being persecuted under the current administration, comparing the government to that of Nazi Germany under Hitler.

Indo-Pak relations have been fraught with tension ever since the India decided to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on 5 August and split it into two union territories.