Pakistan never requested ceasefire: DG ISPR

Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry clarified Pakistan’s position on the ceasefire and outlined the military's strategic handling of the escalation, firmly stating that Pakistan “never requested for a ceasefire.”

“Let me put it on record: Pakistan never requested a ceasefire,” the DG ISPR said in a detailed briefing on Sunday. “On the night of May 6 and 7, after those dastardly and cowardly attacks were made, Indians requested [a ceasefire] and Pakistan gave a very clear response—that we will communicate back only after we have given the response that this act deserves,” he added.

According to Lt Gen Chaudhry, it was only after Pakistan had executed its retaliatory campaign under ‘Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos’ that Islamabad responded to Indian overtures. “So on May 10, after the response and retribution […] and on the request and intervention of international interlocutors, we responded to the already made request of the Indians.”

He also addressed viral claims circulating on social media about an Indian pilot allegedly being captured by Pakistani forces. “I want to categorically state that Pakistan has no Indian pilot in custody,” he said, attributing the reports to “social media chatter” and disinformation campaigns. “This is all part of fake news and propaganda that has been generated from multiple sources.”

Highlighting the high stakes of escalation between two nuclear-armed neighbours, DG ISPR called the idea of war between India and Pakistan “inconceivable” and “sheer stupidity.”

“In a conflict between two rival nuclear powers … such a conflict is actually an absurdity,” he said, adding, “In the case of India and Pakistan, such a conflict can lead to peril of more than 1.6 billion people.”

He added, “In reality, there is no space for war between India and Pakistan, and if anyone wants to carve out this space for war, he is actually carving out the space for mutual annihilation.”

Despite provocations, Lt Gen Chaudhry stated that Pakistan had acted with strategic maturity throughout the conflict. He said the response to Indian aggression was carefully managed to avoid uncontrolled escalation, while still delivering a “two-notch” higher reply using conventional military forces.

DG ISPR described Pakistan’s 'Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos' against India as a comprehensive national response to Indian aggression, stating that the armed forces had fulfilled every promise made to the nation.

(With inputs from The Express Tribune)