A top Pakistani politician has revealed that his country’s military forces had merely 30 to 45 seconds to determine whether a BrahMos missile fired by India during Operation Sindoor could have a nuclear warhead, NDTV reports.
Rana Sanaullah, adviser to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, described the situation as “dangerous” for the Pakistani army, stating that the risk of a nuclear war weighed heavily during the recent conflict.
In the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack—which had claimed 26 innocent lives—India launched Operation Sindoor and destroyed nine terror camps operating in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan’s Punjab province. In retaliation, Islamabad, too, directed drone attacks at Indian bordering states. Most of the drones were intercepted by the Indian air defence system. The three-day-long hostilities between the two neighbours came to a halt with a ceasefire deal on May 10.
“When India fired BrahMos at Nur Khan airbase, Pakistan’s military had only 30-45 seconds to analyse whether the incoming missile may have a nuclear warhead. To decide anything on this in just 30 seconds was a dangerous situation,” Sanaullah told a Pakistani news channel.
Nur Khan airbase is one of the most significant air bases in Rawalpindi’s Chaklala. “I am not saying that they did good by not using a nuclear warhead, but at the same time the people on this side could have misunderstood it also, leading to the launch of the first nuclear weapon that could spark a global nuclear war,” he added.
Notably, India had struck multiple Pakistani air bases during ‘Operation Sindoor’, causing a significant damage to runways, hangars, and buildings. Satellite images displayed extensive damage in Sargodha, Nur Khan (Chaklala), Bholari, Jacobabad, Sukkur, and Rahim Yar Khan, causing a huge blow to Pakistan.