Pakistan Admits 30-Second Nuclear Scare After Indian BrahMos Strike on Nur Khan Airbase During Operation Sindoor

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advisor, Rana Sanaullah, has revealed that Islamabad had just 30 to 45 seconds to determine whether the BrahMos cruise missile fired by India toward the Nur Khan Airbase during Operation Sindoor was armed with a nuclear warhead.

Sanaullah, speaking to a Pakistani news channel, said the narrow window for assessment could have had catastrophic consequences. “When India fired a BrahMos missile that hit our Nur Khan Airbase, our military had barely 30 or 45 seconds to assess whether it carried a nuclear warhead. Any misjudgment could have triggered a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan,” he warned.

“I am not saying India did the right thing by not using a nuclear warhead. But had Pakistan misread the situation, it could have led to retaliatory action, sparking a wider, possibly global, nuclear escalation,” he added.

Operation Sindoor was launched by the Indian Armed Forces on May 7 in response to the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly civilians. The operation initially targeted terror infrastructure linked to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Over 100 terrorists were reportedly killed in these strikes.

However, after Pakistan launched a retaliatory strike targeting Indian civilian and military assets, India escalated the operation. Between the night of May 9 and 10, the Indian Air Force struck several key Pakistani airbases, including Nur Khan, Sargodha, Rafiqui, Jacobabad, and Murid.

The strike on Nur Khan—an important Pakistani Air Force base in Rawalpindi’s Chaklala area—was later confirmed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who said Army Chief General Asim Munir informed him of the attack at 2:30 am on May 10.

Following intense military exchanges over four days, both countries agreed to a ceasefire on May 10.

In June, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar admitted that Islamabad requested the ceasefire after two major airbases were hit. Dar revealed that Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan contacted him and offered to mediate. “He asked if he could speak to India’s S. Jaishankar on our behalf. I said yes. Later, he confirmed he had relayed our message to Jaishankar,” Dar said in a televised interview.