Migmg news
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote in a book released on Tuesday that India and Pakistan were close to nuclear war in 2019 and that US intervention prevented an escalation.
“I don’t think the world knows exactly how much the India-Pakistan rivalry spilled over into nuclear ignition in February 2019,” the presumptive presidential hopeful wrote in Never Give An Inch, his memoir about his time as Donald Trump’s top diplomat and former head of the CIA.
In February 2019, India broke precedent by launching airstrikes in Pakistani territory after it blamed a militant group there for a suicide bombing that killed 41 Indian paramilitary soldiers in the Kashmir region. Pakistan shot down an Indian warplane, capturing the pilot.
Pompeo, who was in Hanoi for the summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said he was awakened by an emergency call from a senior Indian official.
“He believed that the Pakistanis had begun preparing their nuclear weapons for attack. India, he informed me, is considering its own escalation,” Pompeo wrote.
“I asked him to do nothing and give us a minute to sort things out,” Pompeo said.
Pompeo said US diplomats had convinced both India and Pakistan that neither was preparing for a nuclear program. “No other nation could have done what we did that night to avoid a terrible outcome,” Pompeo wrote.
thank you, @SeanHannity!
Check it out at https://t.co/eQ6tPwCDwFhttps://t.co/0fZEw3qhew
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) January 24, 2023
Pompeo, who wrote that Pakistan “probably enabled” the Kashmir attack, said he had spoken to the “real leader of Pakistan,” then-Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, alluding to the weakness of civilian governments.
Pompeo at the time publicly defended India’s right to act. In his book, Pompeo spoke highly of India and, unlike officials in New Delhi, made no secret of his desire to partner with the South Asian democracy “to counter Chinese aggression.”
India, followed by Pakistan, tested nuclear bombs in 1998, a watershed moment. Then US President Bill Clinton later said that Kashmir, divided between the two nations, was “the most dangerous place in the world”.
Great to be with @JesseBWatters. And we’ve only scratched the surface of the stories in Never Give An Inch.
Thanks for including me and check out my book at https://t.co/eQ6tPwCDwF pic.twitter.com/Ifs2KwcL8k
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) January 24, 2023
– ‘I’m still trying to kill you’ –
Pompeo writes extensively in the book about his diplomacy with Kim Jong Un, which included the preparation of three meetings between the young totalitarian leader and Trump.
He recalled the first chilling conversation while flying to Pyongyang in March 2018 on a secret trip as CIA director. “I didn’t think you’d show up.” I know you were trying to kill me,” Pompeo quoted Kim as saying.
“I decided to lean in with a little humor of my own: ‘Mr. President, I’m still trying to kill you.’
But Pompeo described the new understanding with Kim as the Trump administration offered incentives to ease tensions.
Former Secretary of State @mikepompeo shares from his new book Never Give An Inch.
Full interview: https://t.co/9eBvLjU8xd pic.twitter.com/BdSYFRqSjz
— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) January 23, 2023
Referring to Kim’s smoking habit, Pompeo wrote that he told Kim he would take him to “the most beautiful beach in Miami and smoke the best Cubans in the world.” He told me, “I already have a great relationship with the Castros.” Of course he did.”
As for their substantive conversation, Pompeo said Kim spoke candidly about concerns about China, which is usually seen as North Korea’s main ally.
China is said to believe that North Korea wants US forces to leave South Korea, “Kim laughed and slapped the table in sheer glee, shouting that the Chinese are liars.”
Kim “said he needs the Americans in South Korea to protect him from the CCP and that the CCP needs the Americans outside so they can treat the peninsula like Tibet and Xinjiang,” Pompeo wrote, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
Good memories. Good work. Good stories. Get Never Give An Inch at https://t.co/eQ6tPwCDwF pic.twitter.com/zy9Sqo6nnI
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) January 24, 2023
– Xi “hates you” –
Pompeo has become known for his hawkish stance on China, controversially accusing Beijing of spreading the “Wuhan virus,” in a derogatory reference to “Covid-19.”
He said Trump told him with an epithet that Chinese President Xi Jinping “hates you” and asked Pompeo to “shut the hell up for a while” because the US needs health supplies from China.
“I was not happy that the president tweeted that the CCP is doing a good job with the virus and praised Xi,” Pompeo said.
“But I understood the circumstances — we needed medical equipment and were at the mercy of the CCP for that.”
Pompeo has not ruled out running against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, although early polls show little support for Pompeo.
.