Gilgit - Former Director General of the Strategic Plans Division (SPD), Lt Gen (Retd) Mazhar Jamil, on Thursday called for the institution of robust Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) and a comprehensive Strategic Restraint Regime (SRR) between Pakistan and India for promoting regional stability.
Delivering a keynote address at a national seminar organized by the Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS), Islamabad, in collaboration with the CISS-KIU Research Center at Karakoram International University (KIU), Gen Jamil emphasized the critical importance of CBMs and an SRR in “enhancing regional stability and developing a credible crisis management mechanism.”
He warned that India is increasingly behaving as an irresponsible actor within the strategic landscape of South Asia.
The seminar aimed to shed light on contemporary strategic issues with a focus on South Asia and brought together former diplomats, academics, researchers, government officials, and students.
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Gen Jamil noted that India possesses one of the world’s fastest-growing nuclear weapons programs, posing a serious threat to regional strategic stability. Recalling the recent India-Pakistan conflict, he criticized Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public remarks dismissing Pakistan’s nuclear capability as a “bluff.” Such statements, he said, reflect a dangerous departure from the norms of responsible nuclear conduct.
He further observed that the regional security dynamics have significantly shifted in the wake of the Pulwama and Pahalgam incidents. According to him, India’s claim to be a ‘Net Security Provider’ is under considerable strain, while Pakistan has demonstrated both formidable defensive capabilities and strategic restraint as a nuclear-armed state.
He underscored that Pakistan’s national security strategy is built upon a carefully calibrated balance between conventional military strength and credible nuclear deterrence — a posture he described as vital for ensuring strategic stability and preventing conflict escalation in the region. He reiterated Pakistan’s adherence to its ‘Quid Pro Quo Plus’ doctrine and urged a clear and consistent message to India that any act of aggression would be met with a strong, credible, and proportionate response.
Gen Jamil also criticized the growing influence of the RSS’s revisionist ideology on Indian state policy, describing it as marked by deceit and the normalization of violence. He characterized India’s strategic behaviour as abnormal and destabilizing, driven by revisionist ambitions, violent tactics, and an aggressive mindset — all of which he identified as serious challenges to peace and stability in South Asia.
In his inaugural remarks, Ambassador Ali Sarwar Naqvi, Executive Director of CISS Islamabad, warned that the use of conventional force by a nuclear-armed state against another nuclear-armed adversary — particularly in response to a manufactured terrorist incident — sets a dangerous precedent and violates the principles of responsible statecraft.
The panel of speakers included Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel, Chairperson of the Board of Governors, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI); Air Commodore (Retd) Khalid Banuri, former Director General of the Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs (ACDA) Branch, SPD; Brig (Retd) Dr. Zahir ul Haider Kazmi, Advisor on Arms Control, SPD (Online); Brig (Retd) Muhammad Hamid Farooq, Director ACDA; Air Commodore (Retd) Dr. Waseem Qutab, Director ACDA; Dr. Bilal Zubair, Director Research CISS Islamabad; Dr. Iftikhar, Head of the Department of Politics and International Studies at KIU; and Dr. Muhammadi, Associate Director of Research, CISS Gilgit.
The speakers collectively affirmed that Pakistan has consistently acted as a responsible nuclear state, committed to preserving strategic stability in South Asia. They urged India to abandon its provocative actions driven by an increasingly Hindutva-inspired state policy.
The seminar concluded with a strong call for renewed regional dialogue, the establishment of effective crisis management mechanisms, and intensified international efforts to expose state-sponsored terrorism in the region.
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