Pakistan’s Munir Pegs Enmity With India as “Ideological” Battle, Islamabad Alleges “Hydro” Terrorism

Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, on Sunday (May 10, 2026), called the May 2025 Operation Sindoor by India a “battle between two ideologies,” claiming Islamabad’s military strategy during the four-day conflict as “superior” to New Delhi’s.

Munir was addressing a ceremony in the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi to mark Pakistan’s military response ‘Marka-e-Haq’ to India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’.

India had launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ in May 2025 to avenge the killing of 26 tourists by Pakistan-sponsored The Resistance Force in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025.

India struck nine terror infrastructure targets inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7, 2025, followed by a Pakistani military response that was defended by the Indian armed forces.

The four-day conflict ended after the Pakistani Army’s Director General of Military Operations called his Indian Army counterpart on May 10, 2025, to seek a ceasefire, which India accepted.

At the ‘Marka-e-Haw’ anniversary event, Munir alleged that India “violated the sovereignty and territory” of Pakistan between the night of May 6-7 and May 10 last year. He said Pakistan responded, “with full national unity and military force.”

“Marka-e-Haq was not merely a traditional war fought between two countries or militaries, but in reality, it was a decisive marka (battle) between two ideologies,” he said.

Munit claimed the Pakistan military had struck at 26 Indian targets in the four-day conflict, but Islamabad has not provided any evidence to back its claims on the military operations.

The Pakistani Army chief also claimed that India had sought the ceasefire through the US and that Pakistan agreed to it “in the interest of peace,” a claim that runs counter to India’s stance that the military operations ended due to a ceasefire call that Islamabad initiated.

Munir said the future wars would be different due to their “multi-domain” nature and claimed Pakistan was preparing for conflicts through technology, hardware, and training.

“Our defence will remain impeccable. We want peace and will maintain it through credible deterrence,” he said, highlighting Pakistan’s military modernisation, including Hangor-class submarines, a new Rocket Force, and fighter aircraft acquisitions.

India has been consistent that its ‘Operation Sindoor’ was aimed at responding to cross-border terrorism and ensuring national security. On the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor, India reaffirmed its right to defend itself against Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism, while strengthening the global counter-terrorism fight.

The same day as Munir’s remarks, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari accused India of waging “hydro-terrorism” by suspending the decades-old Indus Water Treaty (IWT), calling New Delhi’s move a threat to regional stability.

Zardari said India’s “hydro-terrorism” must be handled “with seriousness.” The Pakistani President said, “The unilateral and illegal attempt by the Indians to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty amounts to hydro-terrorism.”

He said, “Water is a life for millions of our citizens and by belated violations of the international laws, [India] endangers regional stability and [the issue] must be addressed with seriousness.”

The IWT was signed in 1960, brokered by the World Bank, and it governed the water sharing of the Indus river system, allocating the western rivers, Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, to Islamabad. Pakistani people rely on the Indus waters for their agriculture.

India was allocated waters from the eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, for unrestricted use. However, India announced a suspension of the IWT in retaliatory moves against the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025.