Words and Wounds

Publishing date: 08 December 2025

Published in: The Nation

When a foreign minister resorts to inflammatory and misleading remarks about another nation’s armed forces, it is not just diplomacy gone awry; it is a calculated effort at defamation and destabilisation. The recent statement by the Indian foreign minister drew a firm and justified rebuke from Pakistan’s Foreign Office, rejecting the propaganda outright and refusing to allow disparagement of the country’s military to go unchallenged.

Pakistan’s response is entirely appropriate. The armed forces deserve nothing less than respect, especially in a region where sanity is fragile and conflict is often stoked by false narratives. By publicly condemning the remarks, Islamabad has reaffirmed a standard of dignity and self-respect that India apparently chose to abandon.

India’s behaviour must be understood in its proper context. Faced with a steady erosion of credibility on the international stage, whether due to internal dissent, human-rights criticisms, or failed attempts to dominate its neighbours, New Delhi seems increasingly reliant on rhetoric and slander to shift the discourse. When real leadership falters, talk becomes bluster, and bluster eventually unravels any claim to moral or political high ground.

For a state aspiring to regional influence, this pattern of provocations, personal attacks, political interference, and strategic misinformation is a sign not of strength but of desperation. A reputation built on aggression does not age well in a world that is slowly awakening to the costs of unilateral dominance.

Pakistan’s dignified rejection of slander is more than self-defence; it is a testament to principle. The grave India is digging may be deepening with every outburst, but its echoes will resound long after its rhetoric has faded.