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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday his country did not turn a blind eye to US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this month, adding that close relations with a country do not justify silence in the face of wrongdoing.

The statement came during a news briefing in the federal capital, where Dar spoke to the media about Pakistan’s recent diplomatic engagements, including his participation in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Istanbul and the Pakistan-United Arab Emirates Joint Ministerial Commission.

Despite a recent revival in bilateral ties with Washington, Pakistan formally condemned the US strikes in a statement, calling them a violation of international law and affirming Iran’s right to self-defense under the UN Charter.

“Just because relations are good with a country doesn’t mean you should consider something wrong to be right,” he told the media.

“As you witnessed, we didn’t hesitate or delay,” he continued. “I spoke with the foreign secretary, gave a task to the spokesperson and we exchanged draft statements. It’s now a part of the historic record: we criticized the attack, and we did it on record.”

Dar’s remarks came in the wake of a 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel that erupted after Israeli strikes targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites, prompting retaliation from Tehran.

The war began while the administration in Tehran was holding nuclear negotiations with the US that later joined the fray, launching its own strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.

While Washington said the attacks had set back Iran’s nuclear program by years, there was international concern over a wider regional war.

Dar said he had been personally involved in formulating the country’s response as Islamabad prepared its official statement.

Pakistan, currently a member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), also raised the issue at the world body in New York.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Naval Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf on Friday said future wars will be won not just through firepower but by forces that are intellectually and technologically superior, urging a strategic shift in how militaries prepare for evolving threats.

Speaking at the Pakistan Navy War College in Lahore, he pointed to recent Iran-Israel and Pakistan-India conflicts as examples of how warfare has changed.

Traditional dogfights and infantry movements were notably absent from these military standoffs, replaced by precision strikes, electronic and cyber warfare.

The shifting nature of these engagements, he said, underscores the need to rethink legacy doctrines and build forces fit for the future.

“The conventional, one-dimensional study of warfare is now outdated,” Ashraf told graduating officers of the 54th Pakistan Navy Staff Course. “Winning future wars demands not only a re-evaluation of legacy warfighting strategies, but also the development and maintenance of a future-ready workforce that is intellectually astute and technologically proficient.”

Discussing the maritime challenges facing Pakistan, the naval chief said the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) was “fluid and contested.”

He also highlighted that new geopolitical realignments and ongoing power rivalries in the region, saying they were affecting the security environment in the IOR.

Ashraf congratulated the graduates while encouraging them to be more analytical and innovative in their upcoming assignments.