RAWALPINDI: When the Director General (DG) of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) aired a video clip of Indian journalist Arnab Goswami during a presentation today, the room erupted in laughter, according to News Channel. When they saw the video of the Indian news anchor at the high-profile briefing, the participating journalists started laughing. DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry sarcastically said, “You people are laughing at the ‘great intellectual’ of India,” after observing the response. After the DG ISPR’s remark, the reporters kept laughing. The DG ISPR made another mocking remark during a different section of the presentation that included a video of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He mocked the projected picture of the Indian leader, taunting that it appeared a new “Avatar” had appeared for Afghanistan to worship. The Taliban will now adore Modi, according to the DG. The DG ISPR stated in the news conference that Imran Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had exploited former DG ISI Faiz Hameed for political ends. The DG ISPR reaffirmed that terrorism continues to be Pakistan’s greatest concern, noting that counterterrorism operations in 2025 saw previously unheard-of levels of intensity. In response to a query about the 2021 resettlement of terrorists and claims of selective accountability, the DG ISPR stated that politicization undermines the efficacy and independence of institutions.
He emphasized that the only institution that is still above politics is the armed forces. Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated that the then-prime minister controls his political party in an autocratic manner, with the entire party and government centered around a single person, without specifically mentioning Imran Khan. He added that institutions shouldn’t be held accountable for choices made for individual political goals, saying, “This was not an institutional matter; it was a game of personalities.” DG ISPR asked, “Where is the DG ISI from that time who was used for political purposes?” Contrary to the assertions that he lacked authority, DG ISPR stated that the former prime minister was incredibly powerful.
He was so strong that he referred to the Army Chief at the time as the “father of the nation.” Since 1947, no prime leader has ever used such power, he claimed. He rejected what he called attempts to change national symbols for political convenience, adding that Pakistan had only one national poet, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, and one founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The DG ISPR questioned the reasons for the KP government’s persistent requests for talks with terrorists. He added that such strategies have only made the security situation worse. “They have already pushed their own province into this fire and now want to drag the entire country into it.”
