Is Pakistan’s nuclear power really capable of ‘taking half the world down’? Hint: The truth might embarrass Islamabad

Pakistan's Field Marshal Asim Munir remarked to America that if his country were to "go down", it would "take half of the world down." He said this while claiming Pakistan was a nuclear nation. Hence, the remark was straightforwardly forward a nuclear threat. Munir also reportedly made an anti-India statement over the Indus River control from Florida. He said, "We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, we will destroy it with 10 missiles," The Print reported. "The Indus River is not the Indians’ family property. we have no shortage of missiles," he further claimed. The statement came months after India temporarily suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

Munir's remark has raised an obvious question: Is Pakistan actually capable of "taking the world down" by its nuclear missiles? Here's an analysis of its nuke capacity to know the answer.

India vs Pakistan nuclear weapons

As per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) 2025 yearbook, Pakistan has a total of 170 nuclear warheads. Meanwhile, India has 172 nuclear warheads. India has a No First Use policy on its nuclear arms, which means India has declared it will use its nuclear power only to retaliate and would never attack any nation first. Meanwhile, Pakistan's nuclear doctrine is heavily focused on short-range tactical nuclear weapons designed for battlefield use. The country has no such thing as a 'No First Use' policy, which means it can use its nuke weapons to respond to an attack even when nuke arms are not used first.

The missile reach capacity of Pakistan - backed by data

When Munir said Pakistan will take "half the world" down - it simply implied Pakistan's global strike capability. But on ground level, Pakistan's longest-range missile cannot reach even East Asia, Europe’s west or even North America.

Here's a breakdown of Pakistan's key missile systems and their capabilities:

Shaheen-II: The missile is a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 1,500–2,000 km. The maximum it can do is carry nuclear or conventional payloads.

Shaheen-III: It is the longest-range missile with a range of 2,750 km. it can reach some distant parts of India and the Middle East. It is strictly regional in reach.

Ababeel: It is a medium-range ballistic missile, 2,200 km. Pakistan claimed it had potential for MIRV technology. But it had limited testing and no proof of operational MIRV capability.

Fatah-II: This is a ballistic missile and has a range of 400 km.

Ghauri-II: It is an improved version of Ghauri-I with a range of 2,000 km. The missile is supposed to be derived from North Korea’s Nodong missile.

Babur-3: It has 450 km of range and is a submarine-launched cruise missile. It is limited to a sea-based deterrent.

Others: Some of the missiles are - Abdali (200–300 km), Ghaznavi (290–320 km), Nasr (70 km), Harba (300–450 km, ship-launched) and Zarb (280–300 km, coastal defence).

Hence, it can be concluded that none of these missile systems of Pakistan is capable of reaching beyond the country's immediate region and near abroad. So Munir's wish to "take the world down" can not be fulfilled, not by these systems at least.