EDITORIAL: The cycle of hostility between India and Pakistan, triggered by Indian strikes inside Pakistani territory on May 7, remains relentless, manifesting not only on the battlefield, but also through inflammatory propaganda campaigns in the media and aggressive non-military manoeuvres.
Stung by international embarrassment following the downing of its fighter jets, India’s extensive drone campaign across Pakistan on May 8 was clearly a desperate attempt to reassert dominance, cause panic among the Pakistani populace and shift the narrative in its favour.
Pakistan has since downed 35 of these drones. While the drone incursions resulted in martyrdoms of three civilians, disrupted flight schedules and forced the Pakistan Super League’s relocation, one fails to see what meaningful strategic gains these have delivered for India, apart from dangerously heightening tensions.
Following these incursions, India intensified its propaganda campaign, falsely claiming to have intercepted Pakistani missile and drone attacks in occupied Kashmir, Indian Punjab, and Rajasthan. Pakistan swiftly dismissed these allegations as a transparent attempt to craft a false narrative — one deliberately designed to cast the country as the aggressor bent upon escalating tensions.
At the same time, Pakistan promised that a firm and calculated response will be coming in due course. Further inflaming the situation was an unhinged Indian media, and not just hardline outlets, but even some respected journalists, peddling blatant falsehoods, from outlandish claims of downing Pakistani jets to fictitious Indian navy strikes on Karachi, a city of teeming millions. This relentless diet of fake news and aggressive rhetoric has ensured that large sections of the Indian public now inhabit an alternate reality, making the path to de-escalation all the more complicated.
Given the chain of events, it is increasingly clear that India is intent on provoking Pakistan, either into full-scale conflict or, at the very least, into a confrontation that allows New Delhi to stage a manufactured ‘victory’ for its hyper-nationalist domestic audience.
The fact remains, however, that India cannot overpower Pakistan in a regular conventional war, the latter having demonstrated its ability to respond swiftly and effectively to any aggression. The only way India could wrest dominance is through going up the escalatory ladder, but that carries the clear risk of triggering the nuclear option, which must always remain a non-starter.
Even if its non-military measures — from undermining the Indus Waters Treaty to restricting water flow into Pakistani rivers or attempting to influence Pakistan’s IMF programme — succeed, they will likely fail to pacify IIOJK. India’s highly coercive policies in the disputed territory in recent years, including the revocation of Article 370, have only deepened unrest, proving counterproductive to lasting peace. Any backlash in the territory is a consequence of India’s own actions, and Pakistan cannot be blamed for that.
India must understand that even if it manages to manufacture some semblance of victory in the current standoff, the underlying impasse, i.e., the Kashmir dispute, will not vanish, and it will continue to face problems in ensuring lasting calm in IIOJK.
This is because there has been no genuine attempt to resolve this dispute in a manner acceptable to both nations and the Kashmiri people. All stakeholders must recognise that military force will never provide a lasting solution, and the answer lies in political dialogue, without which the region will remain trapped in recurring cycles of conflict.
While the international community’s efforts at de-escalation, so far, have fallen short, it must persist in its attempts to prevent further heightening of hostility. India must realise that it won’t be able to impose its will through coercion and aggressive posturing, while Pakistan must remain vigilant and resolute — not only defending its territorial integrity but also safeguarding its economic and water rights. The situation calls for dialogue, restraint and immediate de-escalation; the alternative risks plunging the entire subcontinent into an irreversible crisis.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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