'We Must Stay Alert': Pakistan Defence Minister Says Can't Rule Out All-Out War With India

Last Updated:November 19, 2025, 17:58 IST

Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of backing attacks by Afghanistan-based Islamist groups in its territory, without providing any evidence, a charge India has rejected.

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the possibility of an all-out war with India cannot be ruled out since tensions escalated during Operation Sindoor, while accusing New Delhi of backing Afghan strikes on the country.

While speaking to a local channel, Asif said, “We are neither ignoring India nor trusting it under any circumstances. Based on my analysis, I cannot rule out an ALL-OUT WAR or any hostile strategy from India, including border incursions or attacks (presumably Afghan). We must stay fully alert."

This came days after Pakistan had accused Afghan nationals of carrying out two deadly suicide bombings in its territory as relations between the two former allies continue to deteriorate. Pakistan also repeated accusations that the Afghan Taliban administration was supporting Islamist militants who are attacking the country.

A suicide bomber blew himself up near a police patrol outside a lower court in Islamabad last week, killing 12 people and wounding 27 others. Asif said the deadly suicide bombing in Islamabad was a “wake-up call" for the country, warning that Pakistan was now “in a state of war".

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused India of backing the attacks, without any evidence, blaming “Indian-sponsored terror proxies". India responded to Sharif’s remark by calling it a “predictable tactic" to “concoct false narratives against India" to deflect attention from its own problems, and termed the accusation as a “desperate diversionary ploy".

“India unequivocally rejects the baseless and unfounded allegations being made by an obviously delirious Pakistani leadership. It is a predictable tactic by Pakistan to concoct false narratives against India in order to deflect the attention of its own public from the ongoing military-inspired constitutional subversion and power-grab unfolding within the country," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in a statement.

India-Pakistan Relations

Tensions between India and Pakistan sharply escalated after the barbaric terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, in which 26 tourists were gunned down by Pakistan-linked terrorists. The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), took responsibility for the attack.

India took a series of diplomatic actions, such as suspending the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) before responding militarily to the Pahalgam attack by launching precise airstrikes at terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK as part of Operation Sindoor, eliminating over 100 terrorists.

Targets included Jaish’s Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, Sarjal camp in Tehra Kalan, Markaz Abbas in Kotli, and the Syedna Bilal camp in Muzaffarabad. Lashkar’s strongholds — Markaz Taiba in Murdike, Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala, and Shwawai Nalla camp in Muzaffarabad — were also hit. Hizbul Mujahideen’s facilities at Makaz Raheel Shahid in Kotli and Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot were among those targeted.

This sparked four days of cross-border attacks between the two countries until an understanding to halt hostilities was reached on May 10. The operation, planned and executed with high precision, involved long-range strikes on sites linked to Pakistan’s air power and strategic assets.

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