'Nukes for peace, not aggression': Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif rules out nuclear escalation with India, admits 55 killed in Operation Sindoor

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday (Jul 12) ruled out the possibility of nuclear escalation during the recent cross-border conflict with India, stating that Islamabad's nuclear arsenal was solely for "peaceful purposes and self-defence". Speaking to a group of students in Islamabad, Sharif said Pakistan responded to Indian military strikes with "full might" during the four-day confrontation, which followed the deadly April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, India, that killed 26 civilians. The Pakistani PM also revealed the number of casualties Pakistan suffered in the conflict with India.

'Not for aggression'

The Pakistani prime minister said that Islamabad's nuclear programme was "solely for peaceful purposes and national defence, not for aggression." Looking back at the four-day military confrontation with neighbour India, he claimed that 55 Pakistanis were killed during Indian military strikes under Operation Sindoor — a coordinated offensive targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The strikes on May 7 targeted nine terror hubs, including in Bahawalpur, a known stronghold of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad group. The operation was New Delhi's response to what it called "state-enabled terrorism" following the Pahalgam terror attack.

His statement comes as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier said that India will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail.

Modi: "India will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail"

In May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that India "will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail" while responding to terrorism emanating from across the border. He said that India has set a "new normal" in responding to terror attacks by hitting back in a way that terrorists understand. “Talks and terror cannot go together, terror and trade cannot go together, and water and blood cannot go together,” he had said during the televised address. Meanwhile, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has posed the idea that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal should be under the surveillance of the UN's atomic energy agency: "I wanted to raise this question for the world: are nuclear weapons safe in the hands of a rogue and irresponsible nation?" he said, adding "I believe that Pakistan's atomic weapons should be brought under the surveillance of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)".