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ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani military officer this week blamed India’s militarization and provocative statements for undermining regional stability in South Asia, saying that dialogue “must never collapse” despite their geopolitical rivalry.
Tensions remain high between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan since their military conflict in May last year, when the two states pounded each other with missiles, drone strikes, fighter jets and artillery fire for days before agreeing to a ceasefire.
Both countries continue to blame each other for supporting militant attacks in their territories. Indian army chief General Upendra Dwivedi warned on Saturday that the country’s military was prepared to undertake another military operation against Pakistan if the situation warranted it.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on Saturday, Lt. Gen. Nauman Zakaria, commander of the 1 Corps unit of the Pakistan military, said Indian “militarization,” adversarial rhetoric and the absence of crisis management mechanisms between the neighbors continue to undermine regional stability.
“Even during periods of geopolitical rivalry, dialogue must never collapse,” Zakaria said. “History repeatedly demonstrates that strategic stability is preserved not only through deterrence but through communication as well.”
The Pakistani military officer said strategic stability in South Asia remains shaped by nuclear deterrence, conventional asymmetry, enduring political tensions and unresolved territorial and ideological disputes between India and Pakistan.
Zakaria said Pakistan’s response to Indian attacks in May 2025 debunked the “notion of space for war in South Asia.”
“Post-conflict dynamics have further constrained the prospects for conventional war,” he noted.
Zakaria said confidence-building measures, transparency mechanisms, and technical dialogues among states are essential to reduce misunderstanding and prevent arms races.
He called for the need to strengthen institutionalized crisis management mechanisms and strategic communication channels.
“As in a world of compressed decision-making timelines, direct communication assumes enhanced relevance,” the Pakistani military officer said.
The Shangri-La Dialogue summit is an annual event that attracts top defense officials, senior military officers, diplomats, weapons makers and security analysts from around the globe.
While both countries continue to refrain from engaging in an armed conflict with one another, tensions remain high. Pakistan has consistently criticized India for holding a decades-old water-sharing treaty with it in abeyance, warning that it sees the move as an “act of war.”
India has blamed Pakistan for always supporting militant activities in the Jammu and Kashmir valley that it administers, a charge Islamabad has always denied.
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