Ex-Pak Envoy Calls for Attacks on Delhi & Mumbai if US Strikes Pakistan
Former Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, asserted that Indian cities, specifically New Delhi and Mumbai, should be Pakistan’s “default move” target in the event of a U.S. Attack on Pakistan. Basit made the statement during an interview with Pakistani television channel ABN News, according to multiple reports.
Basit’s remarks came in response to a question about how Pakistan would respond if the United States were to attack its nuclear arsenal, a scenario he deemed unlikely. He stated that Pakistan’s nuclear range does not extend to the continental United States. “If somebody casts an evil eye on us, we will attack Mumbai and New Delhi in India without even thinking twice. We will see whatever happens later,” he said.
The former diplomat further claimed that Pakistan’s deterrence is “India-specific,” and criticized U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s recent assessment of Pakistan’s missile capabilities. Gabbard, presenting the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment to the House intelligence committee, stated that Pakistan is among countries “researching and developing an array of novel advanced or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads that put our homeland within range.” Basit reportedly dismissed Gabbard’s assessment, suggesting a bias, and pointed to India’s Agni-5 and Agni-6 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
According to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Pakistan possesses six operational types of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, primarily short to medium-range. Its arsenal includes 106 land-based missiles with yields ranging from 5 to 40 kilotons. The Shaheen-3, with a range of up to 2,750 km, is Pakistan’s longest-range ballistic missile, but does not qualify as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), requiring a minimum range of 5,500 km.
The statement from Basit drew a sharp rebuke from Tuhin Sinha, a national spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India. Sinha characterized Basit’s threat as evidence that Pakistan remains “rattled by strikes during Operation Sindoor,” a reference to a recent Indian military operation against terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to Gabbard’s assessment through spokesman Tahir Andrabi, categorically rejecting the assertion that Pakistan’s missile capabilities pose a threat. Andrabi maintained that Pakistan’s strategic capabilities are “exclusively defensive” and aimed at “safeguarding national sovereignty and maintaining peace and stability in South Asia.”