India failed in 1965 and again in 2025”: Senator Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum

r Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum HI(M), Chief Patron of Quaid-e-Azam Welfare Trust UK, said India’s unprovoked aggression against Pakistan

BIRMINGHAM: Senator Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum HI(M), Chief Patron of Quaid-e-Azam Welfare Trust UK, said India’s unprovoked aggression against Pakistan on September 6, 1965, was a “blatant violation of UN Charter Article 2(4),” which prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity and political sovereignty of a member state. Addressing a Defence Day seminar organised by Raja Ishtiaq, Chairman of the Quaid-e-Azam Welfare Trust UK, in Birmingham on September 6, 2026, Lt Gen Qayyum praised Pakistan’s military response and diplomatic efforts while addressing a large gathering of overseas Pakistanis.

Referring to India’s justification for the 1965 attack, the senator rejected the claim that the action was carried out in self-defence following Operation Gibraltar and Grand Slam. He said the operations were conducted in the disputed region of Kashmir and did not constitute an attack across international borders.

He said India failed to break Pakistan despite launching attacks on Lahore and Sialkot and eventually agreed to the Tashkent Declaration in January 1966 as part of efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully. He added that under the Simla Agreement and Lahore Accord, India later committed to resolving outstanding issues, including Kashmir, through dialogue.

Discussing the 2025 escalation, Lt Gen Qayyum criticised India’s actions and said New Delhi again took international law into its own hands by launching “Operation Sandhoor” in May 2025. He claimed India subsequently faced a “historic beating and international humiliation.”

He praised Pakistan’s response as a “unique display of a brilliant, coordinated hybrid war counter stroke”, involving ground operations, air battles, cyber warfare and the use of space and satellite capabilities.

Lt Gen Qayyum also praised Pakistan’s military spokespersons for their role in information and narrative warfare. He said ISPR outperformed Indian and Israeli media efforts during the conflict and specifically highlighted Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb of the Pakistan Air Force for his presentation, which he described as being supported by digital evidence.

He also praised DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry for what he called forceful briefings based on facts, saying these efforts helped present Pakistan’s position internationally and demonstrated what he described as Pakistan’s professional superiority.

Quoting former Indian Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat, Lt Gen Qayyum said Indian officials had also acknowledged Pakistan’s strength in information warfare. He further referred to remarks attributed to a former Indian cyber security chief, who reportedly said that Pakistan had strengthened its approach to information warfare against India.

On the Kashmir issue, Lt Gen Qayyum said Pakistan’s narrative had gained attention internationally. Referring to an Indian seminar on information and space warfare, he said a retired Indian general had acknowledged Pakistan’s effective approach to presenting the Kashmir issue as human rights violations in the West, atrocities against Muslims in the Muslim world and a threat to regional stability in Southeast Asia.

Describing Pakistan as a peace-loving country, Lt Gen Qayyum said the country wanted peace not only in South Asia but across the world. He highlighted what he termed Pakistan’s outstanding diplomatic efforts, which he said contributed to ceasefire efforts in the Middle East and the signing of the Islamabad Accord.

“Pakistan, however, is always ready to defend its territorial integrity against any outside aggression directly or through proxies,” he concluded.

The Defence Day seminar was attended by community leaders, veterans and members of the Pakistani diaspora in Birmingham.