Zardari Admits Bunker Advice in Operation Sindoor: 'Leaders Don't Die in Bunkers'

New Delhi (India) December 28: Pakistan President, Asif Ali Zardari, conceded that he was advised to move to a bunker for safety during India's Operation Sindoor, which is a rare acknowledgment that highlights the effect of New Delhi's accurate military strikes.

The admission came amid a public event on Saturday, while Islamabad has been trying to downplay the operation that was launched by India in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. 

Dramatic Refusal: 'War Has Started'

In his public speech, Zardari said that his Military Secretary had informed him in an emergency and told him that war had started. For safety, he suggested moving to a bunker. The Pakistani president stated that he turned down the offer, saying that leaders ought not to be invisible under the ground during the time of war.

“My military secretary came to me and said, ‘Sir, the war has started. Let us go to the bunkers. I told him, if martyrdom has to come, it will come here. Leaders don't die in bunkers. They die on the battlefield. They don't die sitting in bunkers,” he said.

Escalation and Ceasefire Deal

Zardari, for instance, noted a few days earlier the war was likely to escalate. The situation shifted after that when Pakistan‘s Director General of Military Operations presented a plan to his Indian counterpart to end the battle. India accepted the offer.

The Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also confirmed the ceasefire, stating that both sides have agreed to abandon all military operations on land, sea and air. Zardari‘s remarks, from the highest office in Pakistan, are an accidental confirmation of India’s success in the field during Operation Sindoor.

Confirmed Hit on Nur Khan Air Base

This statement is after Pakistan conceded that a major military facility of its army was among the targets of Indian missile strikes under Operation Sindoor. The acceptance was a definite embarrassment for Islamabad, which has regularly denied and even when it was obvious, downplayed the damage caused by Indian military actions.

Pakistan‘s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed to the press at a press conference that Indian missiles attacked the Nur Khan Air Base in the Chakala area of Rawalpindi. He acknowledged the destruction of the military building and that military personnel were injured.

Dar told us that during the fighting, several drones were fired at Pakistan and one drone hit a military base.

India's Precision Response to Pahalgam

It is an important point because, despite Islamabad's subsequent attempts to downplay the effects of Operation Sindoor, it clearly shows that Pakistan's leadership took the Indian strike very seriously.

India began Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to a terror attack on the town of Pahalgam that New Delhi accused Pakistan, which it backed terror organizations, of carrying out. The next four days saw Indian troops attack installations and terror camps in Pakistan, slashing critical infrastructures and eliminating civilians.