The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said former Pakistani diplomat Abdul Basit’s recent remarks on India demonstrated that Pakistan “cannot survive without terrorism.”
Basit, who served as Pakistan’s high commissioner to India, had said in an interview on Pakistani channel ABN News that in a hypothetical scenario where the United States attempted to destroy Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities, Islamabad would have no choice but to target Indian cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai.
Reacting to the comments, BJP National Spokesperson Tuhin Sinha told IANS, “Abdul Basit’s threat that Delhi and Mumbai will be blown up with bombs from Pakistan shows that even today, Pakistan is rattled by strikes during Operation Sindoor. It has lost its mental balance.”
Sinha added, “It is a terrorist state and now we don’t even have to say it. Last year, Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir had told the US that if needed, the oil refineries in Jamnagar would be blown up. Now, the country’s former envoy has used this kind of language. It shows that terrorism is ingrained in their nature. Pakistan can’t survive without terrorism.”
Basit made these remarks in response to US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s warning that Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile programme could potentially threaten the US homeland. In her 2026 Annual Threat Assessment to the House Intelligence Committee, Gabbard had listed Pakistan among countries developing advanced or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads capable of reaching the United States.
He said Gabbard’s statements reflected what he described as an “anti-Pakistan worldview” and maintained that Pakistan’s missile deterrence was primarily aimed at India.
Basit also questioned the long-term strategic relationship between Pakistan and the United States, suggesting that India and the US enjoyed a stronger partnership, while Pakistan could only take limited benefit from engagement with Washington. He noted that the US does not view India and Pakistan in the same way strategically, citing differences in how missile programmes were assessed.
In outlining Pakistan’s hypothetical response in a worst-case scenario, Basit said that if the US attempted to target Pakistan’s nuclear programme, or if tensions escalated with Israel, Pakistan would see an attack on Indian cities as a default option.