The most powerful man in Pakistan comes out of the shadow to face India

Until recently, the most powerful man in Pakistan preferred to stay behind the scenes, control his public file tightly and limit his statements mostly over the headlines designed in the specified military events.

But after the deadly terrorist attack nearly two weeks ago in the Indian -dominated part of Kashmir, the Commander of the Pakistani army, General Sayyid Monir, ascended to the hurt tensions center between Pakistan and India.

Since the pressure was built in India for a strong response to the attack, which killed more than twenty Hindu tourists near Pahalgam, General Monir has increased in Pakistan’s tone with his harsh speech.

On Thursday, he stands at the top of a tank during a military exercise, General Monir Address In the field. He said: “There will be no ambiguity.” “Any military adventure will be met by India with a quick, firm response.” This was a sign of Pakistan’s commitment to match or bypassing any Indian strike.

General Munir’s comments in India and Pakistan were seen reflecting his need to offer strength and gather public support yet His country has struggled for years With political divisions and economic hardship. These problems have led to the constant loyalty that Pakistanis felt for decades towards the military, which has long had a hidden hand in directing the country’s policy.

But it seems that General Moner’s response is more than just a political account. Analysts describe it as a hard line on India, with views that formed its time in its time leading the leading military intelligence agencies in Pakistan, and that he believes that the conflict that has long supplied with India is in a religious heart.

Many in India have seized statements that General Monir made six days before the terrorist attack. In front of an audience of Pakistanis in the capital, General Monir described General Moner – who is divided between Pakistan and India but calls both – as a “viturable vein” in the country.

This phrase, which is woven deeply in the national vocabulary in the country, indicates how Pakistan sees Kashmir vital to its national identity. The Indian Foreign Ministry condemned the comment as infections and described Kashmir as an “integral part” in India.

Whether the current crisis is escalating or giving way to self -control it will depend on international diplomacy such as local policy.

The United States and the United Nations called on India and Pakistan, both of which have nuclear weapons Work towards canceling the escalation. In addition, the permanent representative of the United Nations Pakistan, Asim Ahmad, said on Friday that Pakistani diplomats and government ministers spoke with their Chinese counterparts about tensions with India. China is an ally of Pakistan and has economic interests there.

But diplomacy may not be sufficient. The Indian Powerful Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who draws her commercial brand of Hindu nationalism at home and in Pakistan as a threat, has promised that India continues “all terrorists and supporters to the ends of the earth.”

After attacks on the Indian security forces in Kashmir in 2016 and 2019, India responded by hitting what it said was terrorist camps inside Pakistan. This time, with 26 innocent people the attackers killed in a tourist destination-more like this in the region decades-“just an air strike across the border in the supposed camps will not satisfy the right blood lust.”

For his part, General Munir has spoken since Paalgam’s attack explicitly, which indicates that he does not control the belief that a long -term peace with India is possible.

On April 26, it is Address students at the graduation ceremony The leading military academy in the country. “The theory of the two states”-the framework behind the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, which confirms that Hindus and Muslims are separate countries that need separate homelands.

The theory has always supports the Pakistani national identity and foreign policy. In the past, Pakistan generals embraced this ideological discourse during the moments of tension with India and contacted it when diplomacy declined. General Monir’s revival of theory and other comments by many Indians was explained as a clear shift in Pakistan’s position towards India.

Its framing Kashmir as a “juggling vein” in Pakistan struck a nerve in India. In the same speech, General Munir said, “We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle because they are witnessing against the Indian occupation.”

Sherar Gobta, Editor, ThePrint, an Indian newspaper on the Internet, said the timing of comments and animation will be difficult to ignore it on India.

Mr. Gupta said: “Paalgam’s anger was followed after General Monir’s speech.” “India should be frighteningly satisfied with the lack of contact, especially since it has sparked hostility to Hindus, which no Pakistani leader – civil or military – has done for a long time.”

Pakistani officials rejected any link between General Monir’s statements and the attack in Kashmir. Mr. Ahmed, the permanent representative of Pakistan at the United Nations, rejected the demand of India for the Pakistani ties to attack and said that the “root cause” of instability in South Asia has remained the unnoticed conflict over Kashmir.

The region was at the heart of the competition between Pakistani India since the division in 1947 that established the two countries from India. Kashmir has seen wars, rebellions and a long military deployment, making it one of the most flash points in the world.

The current confrontation is not the first brush of General Mounir with a regional crisis.

In 2019, when a suicide bombing in Kashmir caused Indian air strikes and a brief military escalation, General Munir, the leader of the Pakistan Intelligence Agency, or the Intelligence Directorate between services, or ISIS in the period after only months, was just when Prime Minister Imran Khan removed him.

Mr. Khan will later oppose General Monir’s rise to the commander of the army, and their relationship remained hostile. After falling with the military leadership, Mr. Khan was expelled in April 2022. General Monir took his leadership as the army chief after seven months. Mr. Khan, who maintains widespread support between the Pakistani audience, was in prison for two years.

General Monir is also working to keep his general image control, it avoids unseen notes. His sermons are strong and mystery, and often dependent on religious subjects.

Hussein Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador in the United States, said that General Monir is “drowned in religion”, and this color his view of relations with India. “At best,” Mr. Haqqani said, “He will search for tensions – and record the largest possible number of points along the way.”

In this way, General Monir appears to reflect the rotation towards the Pakistani Islamic Armed Forces that the military dictator, General Muhammad Diaa, had in the 1980s. General Diaa did this in coordination with the United States, as she collected jihadists to launch a war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

General Monir also presided over the increasing military control of Pakistani politics and society, which restricts the opposition, says critics.

“It seems more controlling than the desire to be loved,” said Mr. Haqqani. “This was his approach to internal politics and his potential approach to dealing with India will be.”

It seems that the army takes a stronger role in relations with India, as it has moved to the unification of institutional control over any future talks by appointing the country’s spy chief as a national security advisor. This role was historically by retired generals and civilians.

At the present time, diplomatic relations between the two countries remain frozen. The aggressive public messages, instead of quiet diplomacy, have become the main communication channel. In such a climate, the risk of severe miscalculation is.

Zahid Hussein, a political analyst and security in Islamabad, said that Pakistan will feel that he is forced to respond if India fired military strikes.

“The question is whether Mr. Modi can choose to stop at this stage,” he said. “Even limited Indian strikes can turn into a wider conflict.”

Eve Sampson It contributed to the reports of the United Nations.