Khawaja Asif says India admitted defeat in recent conflict

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the recent conflict with India was the first war between the two countries whose outcome left no room for interpretation, and that India and its military had acknowledged the result. He was speaking at a ceremony in Sialkot, Minute Mirror reported.

Asif said Pakistan had faced an enemy five times its size and prevailed, and that earlier wars had allowed for different readings of what happened. "India itself acknowledged it, and its military also admitted it. This is a great honour for Pakistan," he said, according to Minute Mirror.

The Nation reported that at the same event the defence minister urged educated young people to play a part in the country's development.

Asif also spoke about his own career, saying he entered politics in 1991 and had spent 36 years in public life. He described Sialkot as his identity and said improving the lives of its residents remained his responsibility.

He said he sometimes felt exhausted after decades in politics, but that a recent meeting with Maulana Fazlur Rehman in parliament had given him renewed energy and motivation.

Asif said he had been imprisoned four times during his political career. He said he was held at Attock Fort during former military ruler Pervez Musharraf's government and spent six months in National Accountability Bureau custody in 2020, when the PTI was in power. Even after six months of detention, he said, NAB officials could not clearly explain the charges against him.

He criticised the use of accountability institutions for political ends, saying governments sometimes arrest opponents first and decide afterwards what the charges should be. Political victimisation had never served the national interest, he said, and warned that using imprisonment and accountability proceedings to settle political scores could damage the country.

Asif said Pakistan had secured a position of importance at the diplomatic level and that its military performance against a larger adversary had strengthened the country's standing and shown its capabilities.

Minute Mirror carried his remarks on the conflict, his career and the accountability institutions. The Nation reported his call to the youth from the Sialkot ceremony.