ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday dismissed Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Kumar Doval’s remarks claiming “zero damage” to military targets inside his country during the four-day military standoff between the two South Asian nuclear states, calling it a “distortion and misrepresentation” that violated established norms of statecraft.
The remarks follow Doval’s comments at a university convocation in India, where he highlighted the precision and success of the Indian military operation against Pakistan, saying New Delhi did not suffer any collateral damage during Pakistan’s retaliation.
In May 2025, the most intense India–Pakistan military confrontation in decades erupted, with both states exchanging missile, drone and artillery strikes following an April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people.
India blamed Pakistan without providing evidence as the administration in Islamabad denied the charge and called for an impartial international probe.
“The remarks of the Indian NSA are replete with distortions and misrepresentations,” foreign office spokesperson, Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan, said during his weekly news briefing. “They not only reflect a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, but also violate the norms of responsible statecraft.”
“Boasting of military aggression against a sovereign nation is a grave breach of the United Nations Charter and established principles of international law,” he continued.
Khan urged India to acknowledge the downing of six fighter jets including three Rafales, as well as the damage inflicted on Indian military targets instead of peddling “fictitious narratives.”
He said that glorification of a conflict did not benefit anyone, highlighting that the path to a lasting peace was in “dialogue, mutual respect and adherence to international law.”
Doval said New Delhi’s initial operation against Pakistan had lasted for “23 minutes.”
“We hit nine terrorist targets deep inside Pakistan — not near the border, but across its crisscrossed terrain with pinpoint accuracy,” he told the students. “We missed none and we hit nothing else.”
He also criticized the international media for highlighting Pakistan’s strikes inside his country, saying there was no evidence that “even a glass pane was broken.”
After four days of intense conflict between India and Pakistan, a US-mediated ceasefire was agreed on May 10, halting the confrontation amid global alarm over the risk of escalation.
