By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif struck a defiant yet conciliatory tone on Friday, saying the country had won the war against India after a week of military clashes but calling on New Delhi to pursue peace as ‘neighbors, not adversaries’.
Sharif was addressing a nationally televised ceremony, featured Quranic recitations, patriotic songs, aerial flypasts, and speeches on the success of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, a military campaign that repelled Indian aggression and restored regional deterrence.
The event, held at the Pakistan Monument in Islamabad, Youm-i-Tashakur (Thanksgiving Day), drew the country’s political and military leadership, including service chiefs, cabinet members, and thousands of citizens.
“We have won the war but we want peace. We have taught our enemy a lesson but we condemn aggression,” Sharif told the crowd, which erupted in chants of “Long live Pakistan!” as fighter jets roared overhead. “We want this part of the world to be as prosperous and progressive as others through hard work, undying efforts and living like peaceful neighbours.”
The conflict erupted May 6-7 when India launched air strikes on Pakistan, blaming Islamabad for the attack in Pahalgam, occupied Kashmir that killed 26 people. Over the subsequent week, both nations traded missile fire and air strikes, raising fears of a broader conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors, until US mediation secured a ceasefire. The fragile truce has temporarily paused the violence, followed by the first formal talks between the directors general of military operations of both armies.
Sharif offered rare insight into the high-stakes decision-making during the crisis, recounting a late-night meeting with military leaders on May 9-10. After India rejected Pakistan’s call for an international investigation into the Pahalgam attack, Sharif said, the military resolved to deliver a “measured response” to a breach of “the last limit.”
Around 2:30 am, he recalled, Army Chief General Asim Munir informed him via secure phone that India had launched ballistic missiles. “He told me, Mr. Prime Minister, grant us permission to strike the enemy with such force that they never forget it,” Sharif said.
Hours later, after Pakistan’s retaliatory strikes, Munir again contacted him: “We have given a befitting response, and now we are being requested for a ceasefire. So, what do you think?”
Sharif said he replied: “What could be greater than landing a blow that leaves the enemy’s head spinning and desperate for a ceasefire? Go ahead and accept the offer.”
The prime minister credited Pakistan’s air defense technology with “stunning the enemy” and bolstering global confidence in the country’s capabilities. “This is a historic development that God brought about within a matter of hours,” he said. “Military analysts from the US to Japan are now discussing Pakistan’s advancements.”
He also thanked allied nations for facilitating the ceasefire but stressed that no foreign power could “block Pakistan’s path” given its domestic unity.
Sharif acknowledged the human toll of conflict, lamenting that violence “solves nothing but births misery, more poverty and unemployment.
“The lesson is that we have to sit down at the table like peaceful neighbours and settle our outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. Without resolving these issues, I don’t think we will have peace in this part of the world on a long-term basis,” he said.
“If we want permanent peace then we need permanent solutions of Jammu and Kashmir and water distribution. Then once we resolve these issues, the sky’s the limit. We can talk of trade, exchange of business communities and cooperate in the field of counter-terrorism.”
Since their 1947 partition, the rivals have fought three wars and countless skirmishes over Kashmir. Past peace efforts, including a 2003 ceasefire, have collapsed amid violence and political discord.
Meanwhile, Pakistan urged India on Friday to uphold the fragile ceasefire and also warned of a forceful response if New Delhi resumes hostilities.
Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan called the ceasefire “a positive development” but pressed India to comply fully.
“Given India’s belligerent posture, we call upon our international partners to ensure that India honours its commitments and refrains from further aggression,” Khan said in a weekly briefing. “Should India resume hostilities, Pakistan will have no choice but to respond.”
Khan said since May 10, the military operations chiefs of Pakistan and India have maintained periodic contact, agreeing on a “structured mechanism for phased de-escalation.” As a gesture of goodwill, Pakistan returned an Indian Border Security Force constable on Wednesday, receiving a Pakistan Rangers sepoy in return.
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