Faisal Ahmad<\/p>\n
From the Pakistani perspective, India is viewed as a \u201cpower maximiser\u201d accelerating a regional arms race through massive defence spending and the pursuit of offensive military doctrines. Islamabad argues that India\u2019s actions-often under the pretext of countering China-directly threaten the strategic balance and force a reactive, yet cost-effective, response from Pakistan. India\u2019s defence budget for FY 2025-2026 reached $78.7 billion, roughly eight to nine times larger than Pakistan\u2019s. For FY 2026-27, India has proposed another significant increase to approximately $94 billion.
\nIndia is fast-tracking high-end acquisitions, including 114 Rafale fighter jets, advanced German submarines, and sophisticated drones. Pakistan views this as an attempt to achieve regional hegemony rather than just defence. Pakistan is particularly concerned about India\u2019s Agni-Prime (specifically targeted at Pakistan) and Agni-V missiles equipped with MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle) technology. India\u2019s entry into the hypersonic missile race (first test in November 2024) is seen as a move that enhances its preemptive counterforce capabilities, potentially tempting a \u201cfirst strike\u201d under a false sense of security.
\nPain of military defeat in \u201cOperation Saindoor\u201d has gone deep in the decision-making quarters of India. The cost of miserable failure is very high for ultra-ambitious Narinder Modi amid the obvious collapse of his political legacy, which is also in his third consecutive term in power corridors. Post-Pahalgam stance of India is sufficient to prove India a regional spoiler. The ruling elite of the BJP overplayed the Pahalgam terrorist attack as a false flag to trigger war rhetoric against Pakistan for political benefits in state elections. How India politicised IWT to provoke Pakistan was the initial indicator of the expansion of hostilities. Unwise missile and drone strikes compelled Pakistan to respond in the same coin. Wide-scale embarrassment of India, especially the collapse of the IAF and paralysis of the missile system, has dented the self-created sense of regional superiority. Since then, Indian state actors and aligned quarters have been striving hard to reverse the situation and portray regional superiority. Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi\u2019s annual press conference on January 13, 2026, reeks of fabricated narratives designed to justify aggression and coerce a \u201cNew Normal\u201d along the LoC. His claims are a pack of lies built on baseless assumptions, aimed at masking India\u2019s failures during the May 2025 conflict.
\nThe so-called \u201c22-minute strike\u201d in \u201cOp Sindoor\u201d is pure fiction with no evidence of derailing Pakistan\u2019s decision-making or killing 100 Pakistanis. It is nothing but desperate propaganda to portray India as an invincible power while ignoring how Pakistan\u2019s resilient forces compelled India to beg for a ceasefire amid heavy losses. Contrary to Indian false claims of strikes on terror camps, Pakistan maintains no such infrastructures. It was actually India\u2019s ploy for deterrence signalling, justifying preemptive strikes while evading accountability for its own state-sponsored terrorism in illegally occupied Kashmir.
\nIndian COAS has miscalculated the scenario by proposing a dedicated Rocket Force following the Chinese and Pakistani strategy. This clearly reveals in Indian designs to escalate conflict between two nuclear-armed neighbours. Placing of Pinaka, Pralay and BrahMos into a single command aims to enable swift, short-duration operations below the nuclear threshold, where even minor miscalculations could spiral into nuclear war. Faster decision-making cycles will counter India\u2019s focus on high-intensity precision actions, ensuring credible conventional deterrence without strategic escalation.
\nBracketing Turkiye with Pakistan on a \u201cmisinfo emergency matrix\u201d is hypocritical; India amplified fake news during the conflict via its media and bots. This warns of info-warfare retaliation. Pakistan has opted to respond by projecting the truth. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission\u2019s 2025 Annual Report to Congress also reflected the military success of Pakistan during the four-day clash.
\nThis rare US acknowledgement validates Pakistan\u2019s battlefield gains, including downing Indian jets with advanced systems like PL-15 missiles. This aligns with President Trump\u2019s repeated claims of averting nuclear war through US mediatory pressure to save the lives of millions. There can be \u2018NO New Normal\u2019 based on coercion. Pakistan\u2019s resolve safeguards sovereignty, thwarting India\u2019s nuclear brinkmanship for lasting peace. This is the proven fact that India\u2019s persistent aggressive posture, especially Pakistan-Phobia laced with nuclear brinksmanship, poses multiple threats to regional peace.
\nPakistan\u2019s military leadership has warned that any attempt by India to establish a \u201cnew normal\u201d through surgical strikes will be met with a \u201cswift, decisive, and destructive\u201d response.<\/p>\n
The writer is an alumnus of QAU, FUI & a freelance columnist, based in Islamabad. He can be reached at fa7263125@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Faisal Ahmad From the Pakistani perspective, India is viewed as a \u201cpower maximiser\u201d accelerating a regional arms race through massive defence spending and the pursuit of offensive military doctrines. Islamabad argues that India\u2019s actions-often under the pretext of countering China-directly threaten the strategic balance and force a reactive, yet cost-effective, response from Pakistan. India\u2019s defence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[13178],"class_list":{"0":"post-532440","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-article","7":"tag-faisal-ahmad"},"yoast_head":"\n