Pak Army Chief Asim Munir promoted to Field Marshal rank despite 'Operation Sindoor' blow

Pakistan's Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has 'approved' a proposal to promote the army chief, media reports said.

The announcement comes days after a series of military escalations against India, following Operation Sindoor, which New Delhi launched in response to the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22.

General Asim Munir's inflammatory and shockingly communal speech is widely considered the trigger for the religiously motivated Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians, mostly Hindu tourists, were shot dead in India for failing to pledge their allegiance to Islam.

"Our forefathers believed that we were different from Hindus in every possible aspect of life. Our religion is different. Our customs are different. Our traditions are different. Our thoughts are different. Our ambitions are different... That was the foundation of the two-nation theory. It was laid on the belief that we are two nations, not one,"General Munir had said in his infamous speech.

"You must tell this to your children so that they never forget the story of Pakistan," he had said and added, "Our forefathers made immense sacrifices, and we too, have sacrificed a lot for the creation of this country... My dear brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters, please do not forget this story."

Terror outfit Resistance Front, an offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, carried out the Pahalgam attack and was believed to be backed by Pakistan.

This led to India's military response against terrorism called 'Operation Sindoor', in which India struck terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir with precision missile attacks.

Nine major terrorist camps and related infrastructure were destroyed.

What followed was a military offensive attack by Pakistan against Indian military installations, civilian, and religious sites. Pakistan resorted to drone attacks for three consecutive nights, which were mostly intercepted by India's air defence systems.

In its response, India launched a sudden and calibrated missile and drone attack on 12 Pakistani air bases, resulting in widespread devastation on Pakistan's military infrastructure and assets.

Pakistan's DGMO called his Indian counterpart and "pleaded" for a ceasefire, to which India agreed to a "pause".

Pakistan then indulged in a massive misinformation campaign claiming to have caused significant destruction in India with doctored and false videos.

Meanwhile, India gave proof with time-stamped photos and videos, as well as live satellite imagery.

Despite his army's failure, General Asim Munir has been appointed 'Field Marshal' based on these outrageous claims of success for Pakistan.

Since Pakistan became a country in 1947, it has awarded the five-star rank of Field Marshal only once to General Ayub Khan, who had self-promoted himself as the dictator of Pakistan in 1965.

Asim Munir has become the second Field Marshal of the country.