Kamal Ghorui
In a hugely provocative statement, Abdul Basit, former high commissioner of Pakistan to India, has said that striking Indian cities like New Delhi and Mumbai should be Islamabad’s “default move” if the country comes under attack from the US.“America won’t attack Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Even if we believe that in a hypothetical situation, America attacks Pakistan, we won’t be able to hit back as America does not fall within our nuclear range. (Asking a TV anchor) What do you think will be our option then? India,” Basit asserted during an interview with a local Pakistani channel. “If somebody casts an evil eye on us, we will attack Mumbai and New Delhi in India without even thinking twice. We will see whatever happens later,” he told ABN News.The ex-envoy-turned-defence strategist further said, “Right now, neither America nor Israel is under our nuclear range. But the world should know that if we come under attack, we will, in turn, attack India wherever we want.” Basit made the controversial remark while reacting to US National Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard’s recent statement before the Senate intelligence committee in which she had said that Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile programme could develop into a threat for the US homeland.Some media reports also quoted Basit as saying that Gabbard’s “anti-Pakistan” worldview was a known fact. “Pakistan’s deterrence is India-specific. Tulsi Gabbard saw our missiles, but not India’s Agni-5 and Agni-6. They are intercontinental missiles,” he was reported to have said.Presenting the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment to the House intelligence committee, Gabbard had said that Pakistan is among countries “researching and developing an array of novel advanced or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads that put our homeland within range”.According to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Pakistan has six operational types of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. Its overall arsenal consists primarily of short to medium-range ballistic missiles, but it is making significant progress in strengthening its cruise missile capabilities. Its ground arsenal consists of 106 land-based missiles with yields of 5-40 kt. Pakistan’s roadmobile ballistic missiles include short-range Abdali, Ghaznavi, Shaheen-1 and NASR, as well as the medium-range Shaheen-2 and Ghauri. The Shaheen-3 and the Ababeel medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) are currently under development.The longest-range Shaheen-3 can hit targets up to 2,750 km. But Shaheen-3 is not an ICBM. To call a ballistic missile ICBM, it needs to have a minimum range of over 5,500 km. The distance between the US and Pakistan is over 11,200 km.Reacting sharply to Basit’s statement, BJP national spokesperson Tuhin Sinha said on Sunday, “Abdul Basit’s threat that Delhi and Mumbai will be blown up with bombs from Pakistan shows that even today, Pakistan is rattled by strikes during Operation Sindoor. It has lost its mental balance.”Soon after Gabbard’s statement, Tahir Andrabi, spokesman for Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs, said, “Pakistan categorically rejects the recent assertion by a US official alleging a potential threat from Pakistan’s missile capabilities.” Pakistan’s strategic capabilities are “exclusively defensive” in nature, he said, and are “aimed at safeguarding national sovereignty and maintaining peace and stability in South Asia”.
